Humor Can Help People Remember Political News, Research Finds

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New research has found that people are more likely to remember political news when it is relayed with humor. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Ohio State University wanted to find out whether or not humor could cause people to remember and share political news more. The researchers gathered young adults aged 18 to 34 years old and had them watch a series of news clips. Some of the videos concluded with jokes, while others ended on a serious note. They checked the participants’ brain activity and gave them a memory test to determine how much information they retained from the videos. Additionally, they asked the participants how likely they were to share each news clip with others. Results showed that the participants were more likely to remember information about politics and the government when the news was presented with humor compared to when it was reported in a serious manner. The participants also said that they were more likely to share humorous news clips. In addition, the brain scans revealed that funny news clips elicited higher activity in brain regions associated with thinking about others' thoughts and feelings. According to the researchers, this shows that comedy is a social experience, which means that it is something that people enjoy sharing with others. Jason Coronel, one of the researchers, said that more and more people are getting their political news from entertainment-focused media. The survey's findings show that this type of humorous media is an effective way for people to keep up to date with political news.