Cellophane over the toilet bowl. Decaf coffee in the "regular" carafe. Armed with these or myriad other schemes, an April Fools' Day prankster strikes. More than just a celebration of mischief—or a license for the boorish—the practical jokes and humor associated with this annual holiday actually play a role in the formation and maintenance of social bonds in small groups."Humor is a very strong way of sharing world views and expressing that you're on the same page," says Giselinde Kuipers, an anthropologist and sociologist at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Kuipers's research, described in Good Humor, Bad Taste: A Sociology of the Joke (de Gruyter Mouton, 2006) has revealed that one's sense of humor is not only subjective, but can vary widely based on gender, ethnicity, economic status and nationality.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Jesting Our Limits: Do April Fools' Day Pranks Alienate or Engage People?: Scientific American
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