Abstract: According to the sociological theory of humor, humor is an interaction in which people play with institutionalized meanings within a situation that ought to be defined as being humorous and funny through laughter, which can explain the humor phenomena in our daily life better. Humor production, humor understanding and humor application in various contexts were explored. Cultural background has important influence on humor production and understanding and there was cultural difference between China and the western countries. Some suggestion was proposed for further studies.

Key words: humor, sociological theory, interpersonal context, cultural difference, humor production

摘要： 幽默的社会理论强调幽默在社会交往情境中娱乐基础上的交际功能，可更好地解释人们日常生活中的幽默现象。根据幽默的社会理论，研究者从幽默发出者的幽默创作、幽默接收者的幽默理解以及各种社会交往情境的幽默应用等角度来探讨幽默。文化背景对幽默的创作和理解具有重要影响，中西方幽默存在文化差异。最后指出社会理论框架下的幽默研究的不足并提出一些建议。

关键词: 幽默, 社会理论, 社会交往情境, 幽默创作, 文化差异