TY - JOUR
T1 - The Big Five personality traits of professional comedians compared to amateur comedians, comedy writers, and college students
AU - Greengross, Gil
AU - Miller, Geoffery F.
N1 - M1 - 2
PY - 2009/7
Y1 - 2009/7
N2 - Stand-up comedians are a vocational group with unique characteristics: unlike most other entertainers with high creative abilities, they both invent and perform their own work, and audience feedback (laughter or derision) is instantaneous. In this study, the Big Five personality traits (NEOFFI-R) of 31 professional stand-up comedians were compared to those of nine amateur comedians, 10 humor writers and 400 college students. All four groups showed similar neuroticism levels. Professional stand-up comedians were similar to amateur stand-up comedians in most respects. However, compared to college students, professional and amateur stand-up comedians on average showed significantly higher openness, and lower conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness. Compared to stand-up comedians, comedy writers showed higher openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness. These results challenge the stereotype of comedians as neurotic extraverts, and suggest a discrepancy between their stage persona and their true personality traits.
AB - Stand-up comedians are a vocational group with unique characteristics: unlike most other entertainers with high creative abilities, they both invent and perform their own work, and audience feedback (laughter or derision) is instantaneous. In this study, the Big Five personality traits (NEOFFI-R) of 31 professional stand-up comedians were compared to those of nine amateur comedians, 10 humor writers and 400 college students. All four groups showed similar neuroticism levels. Professional stand-up comedians were similar to amateur stand-up comedians in most respects. However, compared to college students, professional and amateur stand-up comedians on average showed significantly higher openness, and lower conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness. Compared to stand-up comedians, comedy writers showed higher openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness. These results challenge the stereotype of comedians as neurotic extraverts, and suggest a discrepancy between their stage persona and their true personality traits.
KW - humor
KW - stand-up comedy
KW - performing arts
KW - personality
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/2160/30534
U2 - 10.1016/j.paid.2009.01.045
DO - 10.1016/j.paid.2009.01.045
M3 - Article
SN - 0191-8869
VL - 47
SP - 79
EP - 83
JO - Personality and Individual Differences
JF - Personality and Individual Differences
IS - 2
ER -