Positive and Negative Styles of Humor in Communication: Evidence for the Importance of Considering Both Styles

Abstract

The potential usefulness of assessing both positive and negative humor styles in communication was considered by comparing 2 instruments designed to assess stable individual differences in uses of humor. One instrument assesses humor style as a single dimension, and the other distinguishes between and separately assesses the positive and negative humor styles assumed to be theoretically important. The results indicate that the multidimensional measure does capture the variety of uses of humor that have been empirically and theoretically described, and that the additional differences identified have important implications for how people's uses of humor are perceived and how humor styles may affect social relationships.