A new wave of psychological research has taken a closer look at something most people encounter daily online and around the dinner table: the so-called “dad joke” — and why some of them land while others fall flat.
Psychologists analysed an enormous dataset of 32,533 jokes collected from the internet to identify what makes this style of humour work. Rather than manually reading through thousands of groan-worthy punchlines, researchers used AI tools to help categorise and evaluate patterns in the material. They defined a dad joke as “short, clean, affable and non-offensive”, typically built around simple structures and often relying on puns or wordplay.
The findings suggest dad jokes are far from random. Certain themes consistently performed better than others, with jokes about nature, hospitals and money more likely to be rated as funny. In contrast, jokes referencing celebrities, politics or God were far more likely to “bomb” with audiences, suggesting that safer, universally recognisable topics tend to land better.
In one experiment involving around 600 participants, people were asked to rate a selection of jokes. Three stood out as the strongest performers:
• l accidentally passed my wife a glue stick instead of her ChapStick. She's still not talking to me.
• What country's capital is growing the fastest? Ireland. Every day it's Dublin'
• I told a joke on a Zoom meeting but nobody laughed. It turns out I'm not remotely funny.
The inclusion of the Ireland-themed pun in the top group will probably resonate locally, especially given its reliance on the familiar Dublin wordplay — a reminder of how geography-based humour can travel surprisingly well when it plays on simple linguistic twists.
Dr Paul Silvia of the University of North Carolina, who led the study, said researchers had worked to pinpoint exactly what makes this style of humour tick. He said: 'Just like the cops searching for the criminals who stole the wheels from their patrol car, we have worked tirelessly to identify the comedic features of dad jokes and the kinds of people who enjoy them.'
He added: 'Our study shows that dad jokes are compact and short, clean and affable, usually two sentences at most. Basically, anytime someone makes a corny, adorable joke (most often a pun), that's a dad joke.'
The research also explored who is most likely to enjoy this type of humour. According to Dr Silvia’s paper The Psychology Of Dad Jokes, audiences who tend to rate these jokes more highly include men, pet owners, parents, higher educated people, those with more money, religious individuals and conservatives. While broad, the findings suggest dad jokes appeal most strongly to people who prefer low-risk, predictable humour styles.
Beyond the punchlines themselves, researchers also examined the role humour plays in family relationships. Dr Robert Lawson of Birmingham City University argued that laughter is a powerful tool in strengthening bonds between fathers and sons, particularly during childhood development.
He explained that humour can help break down traditional family hierarchies, making fathers seem more approachable and encouraging “low-pressure, non-judgemental conversations”. In practical terms, this means a simple joke or moment of shared silliness can make it easier for children to open up, especially when more serious conversations feel difficult.
Dr Lawson said humour also plays a wider developmental role, boosting creativity and imagination while helping families move on from awkward or stressful moments. However, he warned that jokes should not replace serious communication where it is needed, noting that humour can sometimes be used to avoid addressing important issues.
His comments come from research involving 500 fathers and their sons aged seven to 11, carried out in partnership with McCain. The study found that 25% of parents said they feel “truly connected” to their sons when sharing a laugh, underlining how central humour is to everyday family life.
Dr Lawson said: "The cultural script of 'men as providers' is still incredibly strong and shapes much of the anxiety men face in terms of their relationship to caring and parenting."
He added: "This can have knock-on effects when dads don't know how to talk with their sons, especially about difficult life topics."
The research also highlighted just how embedded humour is in father-son relationships, with nine in 10 dads (90%) saying they use humour or playfulness to connect with their sons at least weekly. A third (33%) said they share jokes every single day, although almost four in 10 (38%) admitted that finding quality one-to-one time can still be a challenge.
Taken together, the findings suggest that while dad jokes may be simple or even predictable, they serve a deeper purpose than just getting a groan or an eye-roll.
They act as small social bridges — low-stakes, accessible moments of connection that can help strengthen relationships, especially within families where communication can sometimes be difficult to navigate.
