Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Our study, conducted as part of a doctoral (PhD) project, focuses on enhancing mental well-being through exploring the potential of humour to alleviate stress, depression, and anxiety. We aim to delve into various humour styles, distinguishing those that enhance self-esteem and relationships from others that may have potentially harmful effects.

Our study’s main goals are:

1. Dataset Creation: In order to create a dataset comprising the four different humour styles, our research will recruit fifty (50) acting or drama students who reside in or around Greater London and at least eighteen years old. These participants will not simply read jokes; instead, they will actively portray them through acting, using facial expressions to convey associated emotions. The entire process, which includes reading jokes, expressing emotions on video, and completing an emotion form, ensures a comprehensive exploration of humour styles and their facial expression distinctions.

2. Humour Style Recognition Model: Following data collection, our aim is to create a machine learning model that accurately classifies humour styles and their underlying emotions based on the video dataset.

Overall, this research aims to automate the recognition of four distinct humour styles that have been previously identified as impactful on well-being. By delving into the connection between humour and mental health, the study endeavours to provide valuable insights into the potential benefits of humour for overall well-being.

If you decide to take part, you will be asked to fill out a demographic questionnaire. If you meet all the inclusion, then you would be eligible to be selected for our study on a first-come, first-serve basis, as only fifty individuals would be selected for the study. If you do not meet the eligibility criteria, any data that has been collected from you  will not be used in the study and will be deleted.

As a valued participant in this project, your commitment will involve approximately 2.5 hours of your time, and you will receive £50 as compensation for your full participation. This encompasses the time spent familiarising yourself with the content you will be performing, the physical on-site activities, including acting and recording, and the completion of the associated emotion form. Your role will entail expressing predefined humour styles and emotions in response to selected jokes. Some examples of these jokes include: 'How can I face my problem when my problem is my face?' (self-deprecating), 'The bags under my eyes are Prada’ (self-enhancing), 'Accept who you are. Unless you are a serial killer’ (affiliative), and 'I would call you dumb, but that would be an insult to dumb people’ (aggressive).

The jokes will be provided to you beforehand so you can review the content and opt out if you are not comfortable performing any of the jokes.

The research will continue until all 50 participants have completed their sessions. There are no specific lifestyle restrictions related to diet, driving, sports participation, or regular medication use for this study. You can continue with your regular activities and medications as usual. If you have any concerns or specific questions, please don't hesitate to reach out. Your health and safety are of utmost importance to us.

As a participants, your personal data, such as names, contact information, and any other directly identifiable information, will be anonymised. This anonymisation process ensures that there are no direct links between the data and you. However, the video recordings of you when role-playing will not be anonymised, given that your face will not be removed because the project relies on facial features for identifying emotions and humour styles through expressions. The video recordings will be specifically analysed and used in recognising different humour styles (self-enhancing, self-deprecating, affiliative and aggressive) based on facial expressions, text and audio. The anonymised data and the video recordings will be securely stored on Imperial College London servers with strict access controls, encryption, and other security measures to protect the integrity of the data.

You will only need to visit the research site (Huxley Building, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus) once for your data collection session. During this visit, you will be asked to tell the jokes through acting, which measures facial expressions and a range of emotions in response to predefined humour styles while being recorded on video. You will also be required to fill out an online form explaining your emotions. The entire process will be carefully supervised by our research team to ensure your comfort and safety.

One potential risk associated with participating relates to the content of the jokes used in the study. Some jokes may contain self-deprecating or aggressive humour, which could trigger negative emotional responses in some participants. However, you have the option to skip any jokes that make you uncomfortable, and the research team will provide guidance and support throughout the process. If you have any concerns about specific content, please feel free to discuss them with the research team, and adjustments can be made to accommodate your preferences.

While the study involves role-playing and expressing emotions, it does not pose any physical risks or the risk of injury. Your well-being and safety are our top priorities, and the research team will carefully oversee the entire process to ensure your comfort and security during the session. In the highly unlikely event that a participant experiences undue distress due to negative emotional responses, we have two on-site mental health professionals. These professionals will implement the distress protocol of the BMJ, offering appropriate support. They may also advise you to consult your GP or seek assistance from a mental health charity such as Mind (www.mind.org.uk).

Additionally, you might experience mild emotional discomfort while expressing different emotions, but this is a normal part of the study and will be brief in duration.

In relation to the facial analysis component capturing your facial expressions in the video, while unlikely, there are some potential risks to consider. The video recordings of your facial expressions could potentially be misused or accessed improperly if they fell into the wrong hands, despite the stringent security measures in place. However, the research team has extensive experience with this technology and thorough protocols to minimize such risks.

In summary, despite the slight potential for emotional discomfort and the minimal risks around facial analysis, the research team is fully dedicated to guaranteeing a secure and pleasant experience for all participants. Your well-being, privacy and enjoyment of the study are our highest priorities.

While we cannot guarantee personal benefits, involvement in the study may inform advancements in the understanding and treatment of mental health conditions through the gathered information on humour styles.

Upon completion of the research, the findings and insights will be disseminated within the scientific community and to the public through research publications in reputable journals or conferences, typically within one year after the data collection concludes. A copy of the published paper will be shared with participants for their information. It is essential to note that participants will not be individually identified in any report or publication, and results will be presented in an aggregated and anonymised form, ensuring strict confidentiality and privacy.

As part of our commitment to advancing educational research in the field of mental health, we intend to make the dataset, inclusive of video recordings and emotion data, available for access by other researchers upon request. Participants will explicitly consent to this sharing arrangement as part of the study's informed consent process. To access the dataset, researchers must contact the principal investigator, complete a comprehensive End-User License Agreement (EULA) form, and explicitly agree to use the data exclusively for educational research purposes related to mental health. This access process is designed to uphold ethical standards, ensuring responsible and focused use of the dataset while prioritising participant privacy and the confidentiality of sensitive information.

Our research team acknowledges the importance of careful consideration regarding dataset use and commits to continuous oversight to guarantee that the agreed-upon terms are strictly adhered to. Participants can be assured that the dataset will not be used for commercial, non-educational, or unrelated research purposes, and stringent measures are in place to safeguard the integrity and ethical use of the data.

This study was given favourable opinion by the Science, Engineering, and Technology Research Ethics Committee (SETREC)   and approval by Prof. Michael Huth, Head of Department of Computing.