Nidhi was getting anxious about her exams when her phone pinged with a message from a classmate on the group chat. It was a meme about exam preparations that somehow made her chuckle, instantly easing her tension and letting her breathe free for a moment. Have you ever calmed down from a stressful situation because of a relatable meme you saw at the right time? Or perhaps made a friend by simply sharing memes on Instagram? Memes have become an integral part of modern-day communication. But are these simply jokes to be forgotten the next moment, or greater means combining humour and relatability to strengthen social bonds?
What are Memes?
Memes can be defined as “an Internet meme is an idea (e.g., a word or phrase, hashtag, hyperlink, picture, or video), usually rooted in popular culture, that is widely popularised and distributed on the World Wide Web, for example, via social networks, blogs, e-mail, and news sources.” (APA, 2018) Memes are an important part of modern culture that provide entertainment, an opportunity for self-expression, as well as a reflection of present events of society and culture (Shi, 2023). They have become a common tool that fosters interactions and communication, and are easily shareable on various social media platforms.
Read More: Digital Belonging: How Memes Build Communities and Shared Identity
Humour as a Coping Tool
1. Related theories
Several philosophers, sociologists and psychologists over the years have tried to understand and explain humour. Three main ones of these are:
- Relief theory: This theory of humour simply posits that humour is a method of generating relief from tension.
- Superiority theory: This theory is inherently based on a person’s self-esteem. It refers to the feeling of contentment at the expense of others, or at the misfortune of others.
- Incongruity theory: “Incongruity is at the core of all humour” (Zhan, 2012). This theory is one of the more accepted theories that states humour to be the result of something unexpected or not meeting the usual standards. (Martin & Ford, 2018).
Read More: How Your Brain Reacts to Humour
2. Emotional release
Humour and laughter are found to be associated with the release of endorphins. These biochemicals reduce tension and stress, giving a sense of happiness and peace. Laughter is also found to result in healthier heart rhythms (Thomson et al., 2021)
3. Resilience
Humour is said to be an indicator of greater resilience. It helps people bounce back from difficult situations and is often considered to be very helpful for dealing with the adverse circumstances of daily life. (Kyomugisha, 2025).
4. Perspective shift
In line with the Incongruity theory of humour, it helps people shift perspectives. This is a type of cognitive mechanism that involves a change in understanding of a situation, otherwise called reframing. A study on whether perspective change through humorous techniques in the case of unrequited love is important, explained this (Greve et al., 2021).
The Relatability Aspect of Memes
- Self-presentation: This refers to a process of using certain behaviours to influence others’ opinions or impressions of oneself. People can present themselves, their mood, ideas, thoughts and feelings through the use of memes.
- Emotional contagion: “the rapid spread of an emotion from one or a few individuals to others.” ( APA, 2018). Memes often help share emotions indirectly. People share what they find funny with others to form a shared sense of humour.
- Validation of feelings: The approval obtained through likes and shares of memes on social media helps people feel validated for sharing their thoughts and opinions, while also getting the chance of not having to explicitly say it.
- Cognitive ease: Memes can include sarcasm, quips, wit, and irony in one sentence or a picture (Brubaker et al., 2018), making them easy to engage with and understand. They can convey difficult messages in an easy, digestible format that people can relate to. This makes them often a popular mode of communication. (Nieubuurt, 2021)
How Memes Foster Connection
- Social identity and belonging: Tajfel and Turner (1979) suggested that people define themselves as members of the group they belong to. Memes specific to a demographic help create a sense of unity, shared identity and “we feeling”. For eg:- memes about student life or corporate office. Studies show that when humorous elements are observed collectively, they lead to a sense of reassurance and help in strengthening social bonds. (Ali et al., 2021; Naranch et al., 2022)
- Tools for conversation: Memes are simple, non-confrontational methods of communication in modern day. Two coworkers can simply connect through a corporate meme that they relate to. Memes help in easing into conversations, without necessarily delving into awkward or serious topics.
- Strengthening relationships and bridging gaps: Studies show that meme sharing can be meaningful in relationships, with more memes being shared in closer bonds. In fact, it often becomes a routine practice for people who are close to each other, similar to sharing inside jokes being shared.
Conclusion
Memes refer to visual formats such as pictures, reels, etc, that are intended to cause humour and laughter. They have become an important part of modern-day communication and culture. These humorous visuals are helpful for people to cope with daily life stressors. Humour itself can be explained through a form of release, a sense of Superiority over others, as well as Incongruity. It helps people to release negative emotions, builds resilience and shifts perspectives.
Memes are easily accessible and relatable for anyone dealing with a particular situation. They do this through a sense of presentation of self, emotional contagion and validating the feelings of people. On a greater level, memes as forms of humour help people connect as a form of social identity or belonging, tools for starting and continuing conversations, as well as strengthening relationships and bridging gaps.
Read More: Reframing Negative Thoughts for a Positive Life
FAQs
1. What are memes?
Memes are ideas, phrases and other visuals that are intended to provide entertainment and humour to people. They have become an important part of communication in modern day.
2. How is humour a coping tool?
Humour acts as a coping tool through providing perspective shifts, building resilience and emotional release. Added to that, several theories like release theory, superiority theory and Incongruity theory help explain humour as an important tool of dealing with life’s situations.
3. How do memes foster connection?
Memes foster connections through forming social identities and giving people a sense of belonging, acting as tools of conversation, bridging gaps and strengthening relationships.
References +
Greve, W., Hauser, J., & Rühs, F. (2021). Humorous coping with unrequited love: Is perspective change important? Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 653900. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.653900
Kyomugisha, A. T. (2025). The role of humour in coping with adversity. Research Invention Journal of Current Research in Humanities and Social Sciences, 4(1), 42–48. https://doi.org/10.59298/RIJCRHSS/2025/414248
Agrawal, A., Sharma, D., Mishra, M. K., Shah, M. A., Alam, M., & Khandelwal, V. (2024). How to cook a meme: Exploring content strategies in brand and user-generated memes on Instagram. Cogent Business & Management, 11(1), Article 2366001. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2366001
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