The relation of defensive style and thematic content to children's enjoyment and comprehension of joking riddles.
Joking riddles of low, moderate, and high aggressive content were administered to 60 normal elementary school boys of average intelligence, categorized into three groups of 20 based on their characteristic defensive styles (constricted, flexible, and impulsive) of dealing with aggressive impulses. Both moderately and highly aggressive riddles were enjoyed more. Though no main effect for defensive style was found for either riddle enjoyment or comprehension, complex interactions among defensive style, level of aggression, and time of presentation emerged as significant.