Why Do We Laugh at Farts?
Fart jokes are universal. From Sumerian clay tablets to Netflix specials, from kindergartens to nursing homes — few stimuli trigger laughter as reliably as an unexpected sound from the human posterior. The science of humor has taken this question seriously, uncovering insights that reach far beyond the fart itself.
The Benign Violation Theory
The most influential modern humor theorist, Peter McGraw of the University of Colorado, developed the Benign Violation Theory (BVT) together with Joel Warren. According to this framework, humor arises precisely when something simultaneously violates a norm (violation) and the violation is perceived as harmless (benign). A public fart violates the social norm of bodily restraint — but is almost never consequential. This combination of rule-breaking and harmlessness generates the comic effect. The BVT also explains why the same fart lands differently in different contexts: in church it seems funnier than on the sports field, because the norm violation is more severe — but still harmless.
Developmental Psychology: Why Even Toddlers Laugh
Children begin laughing at bodily functions before they have the linguistic means to name them. Developmental psychologists observe laughter responses to fart sounds as early as the second year of life. The reason lies in the early development of an understanding of social norms: the child has already internalized that bodily functions are unwelcome in certain contexts — and experiences their unexpected occurrence as a funny rule violation. Paul Bloom of Yale University argues in his work on children's moral development that humor about bodily functions is an early indicator of social-rule comprehension. Children laugh at farts because they already know you're not supposed to.
Social Glue: Fart Humor as a Group Phenomenon
Laughter is social: people laugh 30 times more often in company than alone. Fart humor works especially well as a group phenomenon because it addresses a shared physical experience that everyone has — regardless of age, education, or cultural background. In social groups, humor about bodily functions frequently serves as a status-leveling mechanism: it reminds everyone present, including high-status individuals, of their physical equality. Studies on humor use in organizations show that managers who can occasionally joke about low-status bodily functions are perceived as more authentic and approachable. The fart democratizes.
Why Some People Don't Laugh at Farts
Not everyone finds fart jokes funny — and that is psychologically revealing. People with a high Disgust Sensitivity Score (DSS), a measure of the intensity of disgust responses, find bodily function humor significantly less amusing than people with a low DSS. Jonathan Haidt of New York University, who studies the moral-psychological dimension of disgust, shows that disgust sensitivity correlates closely with political and moral attitudes. Conservative personalities show, on average, higher DSS scores and respond to body humor more reservedly. The implication: whether a fart is funny says something about the personality of the person laughing.
Did You Know?
- People laugh 30 times more often in company than alone — humor is primarily a social phenomenon.
- The Benign Violation Theory explains humor as a combination of norm violation and harmlessness.
- Children laugh at farts from age two — an early demonstration of social-rule understanding.
- High disgust sensitivity correlates with reduced enjoyment of body humor.
Fun Fact
In a University of Hertfordshire study from 2002 involving 40,000 people from 70 countries — billed as the world's largest joke experiment — fart jokes consistently ranked among the most-shared jokes, even though they were never rated the 'objectively' funniest in any language. Their strength lies in their universality.
Sources
- McGraw, A.P. & Warren, C. (2010). Benign violations: Making immoral behavior funny. Psychological Science, 21(8), 1141–1149.
- Provine, R.R. (2000). Laughter: A Scientific Investigation. Viking Press.
- Haidt, J. et al. (1994). Individual differences in sensitivity to disgust. Personality and Individual Differences, 16(5), 701–713.
- Bloom, P. (2013). Just Babies: The Origins of Good and Evil. Crown Publishers.