The 2015 survey on jokes shows that humour remains one of the most stable ways to “get through” everyday life, but also that people are far more often an audience than storytellers. Most respondents see themselves as optimists (60.67%), while 19.33% are undecided, and the combined share of pessimists and “informed pessimists” makes up about a fifth of the sample. Still, optimism does not translate into career satisfaction: only 6% say they are completely satisfied with what they have achieved, while the largest shares balance between “mostly” (28%) and “partly” (29.33%). Every third respondent is on the lower end of the scale—“a little” (20.67%) or “not at all” (14%) satisfied.
In this context, a joke functions as a micro-break. Most people listen to jokes often or very often (77.33%), while only 31.34% tell them often/very often. Rare storytelling dominates (40%) and very rare (22.67%), with 6% who never tell jokes. When it comes to “active” humour—searching for jokes—enthusiasm drops further: 35.33% look for jokes often or very often, but 31.33% do so rarely, and 33.33% very rarely or never. In other words, jokes are widely present, but the role of distributor is taken on by minorities—while the majority enjoy “served” laughter.
What do people expect from a joke? The answers are almost unanimous: that it makes you laugh. Formulations such as “to make me laugh,” “laughter,” and “to make me laugh to tears” dominate, with an important addition: a joke should be smart, short, original, and not offensive. The stress-relief function is also often mentioned—to “lift the burden of worries and stress.” As for favourite types, the most common answer is “all,” but black humour, political jokes, short forms, and “classics” (Mujo and Haso, Perica) stand out, along with notes that humour should not be vulgar.
Behind these numbers, a broader pattern emerges: in a society where career satisfaction often “creaks,” laughter remains a cheap, fast, and accessible release valve—but most people choose it as an audience, not as performers.
Methodological note: the survey was conducted on 25 April 2015 on an online sample of 150 respondents. The sample is self-selected and not representative of Serbia’s population. The results describe the views of survey participants at that moment in time.