Do coping strategies and the degree of satisfaction with one’s social life and parental attachment modulate gelotophobia, gelotophilia and katagelasticism? A study on young Italian adults

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate three dispositions relating to ridicule, namely gelotophobia (the fear of being laughed at), gelotophilia (the joy people feel when they themselves are laughed at) and katagelasticism (the joy felt when laughing at other people). A sample of young Italian adults were questioned about how satisfied they were with their social life, their coping strategies when faced with difficulties and their interpersonal dimensions (specifically their parental attachment style). Three hundred and eleven undergraduate students (mean age 20.2 years) were asked to self report on their disposition toward ridicule (the PhoPhiKat questionnaire), their coping strategies (the Echelle Toulousaine de Coping questionnaire), their interpersonal dimensions relating to parental attachment (the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment scale), and their degree of satisfaction with their social life (by means of a specific questionnaire). Two main results emerged. The first (in line with previous literature) revealed that a highly satisfactory social life is associated with low levels of gelotophobia and high levels of attachment to both parents. The second main result was that gelotophiles reported principally using control strategies to cope with difficulties, whereas gelotophobes mostly resorted to social support and withdrawal strategies when faced with problematic situations. The research provides new information on these three dispositions toward ridicule in early adulthood which represents a turning point in an individual’s transition from late adolescence to adulthood.