The compensatory function of the Sunday "funny" paper

Abstract

When over 5000 children were asked to check from a comprehensive list of play activities only those in which they had voluntarily engaged during the preceding week, it was found that "Looking at the 'funny' paper" was extremely popular. Seasonal, sex, and race differences were not conspicuous features of the data, but there was some difference between town and country children, probably due to the relative inaccessibility of the comic sheet for the rural children. In their analysis of the comic paper the writers emphasize the unimpeded activity of the characters, the complete lack of restraint, and the extreme freedom of expression. They suggest that the popularity of the comic strip is due to the fact that it presents unhampered human activity through which the reader vicariously satisfies his thwarted and restrained desires. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)