Humor Strategies and Social Functions in Student WhatsApp Group Chats: An Analysis Based on the GTVH

Abstract

This study explores the humor strategies and their social functions in student WhatsApp group conversations using the General Theory of Verbal Humor (GTVH) developed by Attardo (1994). The focus is on the Logical Mechanism (LM) parameter to identify how humor is constructed through patterns such as irony, absurdism, and wordplay. Additionally, the research investigates the social functions of humor particularly social management and decommitment within the sociopragmatic context of informal academic communication. Using a qualitative descriptive approach, 30 humorous utterances were collected from a student WhatsApp group and analyzed according to their Logical Mechanism and social functions. The findings reveal that irony is the most frequently used humor strategy, followed by absurdism and wordplay. The dominant social function found is social management, indicating that humor primarily serves to strengthen group solidarity, reduce tension, and foster a relaxed atmosphere. Decommitment also appears in several cases, where humor allows speakers to retreat from serious statements without disrupting social harmony. The study concludes that humor in digital student interaction is not only a linguistic phenomenon but also a social tool for maintaining group cohesion and navigating academic stress.