Adaptive Humor Research Articles

Sense of humor and social desirability: Understanding how humor styles are perceived

Humor can be expressed in many ways, some of which may not be seen as displaying a good sense of humor or as being socially desirable. Using the Humor Styles Questionnaire to predict global ratings of sense of humor for oneself and for a romantic partner indicated that only adaptive humor styles were reliably related to sense of humor and that an affiliative style was the primary predictor. Behaviors associated with adaptive humor styles were judged as more socially desirable, with maladaptive humor uses being rated as clearly socially undesirable. In conclusion, a good sense of humor is not based solely on sharing humor and some styles of sharing humor are socially damaging. Future research needs to determine when maladaptive humor may be beneficial.

The interpersonal meaning of humor styles

AbstractIn order to investigate the interpersonal meaning of humor, the relations between humor styles and the Interpersonal Circumplex (IPC) were examined. One-hundred and twenty-seven participants reported their humor styles using the Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ). These participants' interpersonal styles were also assessed using the eight octants of the IPC. By employing the structural summary method, results indicated that all humor styles produced high levels of interpersonal content, but slightly different interpersonal profiles. Affiliative and self-enhancing humor styles, which are often viewed as adaptive humor styles, were strongly associated with the gregarious-extraverted octant of the IPC, whereas aggressive and self-defeating humor styles, which are often viewed as maladaptive humor styles, were most highly associated with the assured-dominant and arrogant-calculating octants of the IPC.

How adaptive and maladaptive humor influence well-being at work: A diary study

AbstractIn this paper, we investigate how adaptive and maladaptive humor influence well-being in the workplace. In particular, this study examines the extent to which reactions from others (i.e., humor targets) can moderate the relationship between humor and well-being. Unlike prior research, we adopted a

Humor styles, risk perceptions, and risky behavioral choices in college students

AbstractSense of humor has been identified as a possible factor that leads to riskier behavioral choices, which could, in turn, contribute to health problems and reduced longevity. In previous studies, sense of humor was viewed as a one-dimensional, positive personal quality: the potential impact of maladaptive styles of humor was not acknowledged. The current study assesses both adaptive and maladaptive humor styles and relates them to perceived risk, and to the performance of risky behavior. The results do not support the suggestion that a sense of humor – when considered as a cheerful, carefree, and optimistic orientation – is related to assessments of risk or risky choices. Although humor

Development of a Humor Styles Questionnaire for children

AbstractThe adult Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ) assumes that humor can be both adaptive (“self-enhancing” and “affiliative”) and maladaptive (“aggressive” and “self-defeating”). The aim of the research was to develop a reliable and valid scale to assess adaptive and maladaptive humor in children – an adaptation of the adult HSQ. Over two studies, 1187 UK school children aged 9–15 years completed the 24-item adapted child HSQ. In the second study the children completed the questionnaire on two occasions, one week apart, and also measures of psychosocial adjustment. For children aged 11 years and upwards there was a clear four factor structure to the questionnaire with all sub-scales showing acceptable levels of internal and test re-test reliability. As predicted, affiliative humor and self-defeating humor were associated with all four measures of psychosocial adjustment. Aggressive humor was associated with lower anxiety and higher self-perceived social competence for boys, and with lower global self-worth and higher depression for girls. Longitudinal research is needed to disentangle the causal pathways and examine further the links between children's humor styles and their social competence.

Relationships between the Dark Triad and humor styles: A replication and extension

Two hundred undergraduate students completed paper-and-pencil measures of the Dark Triad (Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) and the Humor Styles Questionnaire, which taps two adaptive (affiliative and self-enhancing) and two maladaptive (aggressive and self-defeating) styles of humor. The first purpose of the study was to replicate relationships between these variables reported by Veselka et al. (2010). The second purpose was to expand on their results by investigating relationships between several sub-factors of the Dark Triad (in addition to global scores) and the humor styles. Results provided substantial replication of Veselka et al. at the global level and, at the sub-factor level, provided additional insights into the potential role of adaptive and maladaptive humor styles in the personality dynamics of individuals characterized by the various facets of the Dark Triad.

Pathological forms of narcissism and perceived stress during the transition to the university: The mediating role of humor styles.

The way individuals use humor is likely to be influenced by how they feel about themselves. The goal of the present studies was to examine the association between the pathological forms of narcissism (grandiose and vulnerable narcissism) and humor styles in Jewish Israeli undergraduate samples as they made the adjustment to being university students. Study 1 (N 187) found that grandiose narcissism was positively associated with adaptive humor, whereas vulnerable narcissism was negatively associated with adaptive humor and positively associated with maladaptive humor. Study 2 (N 251) found that humor styles mediated the associations between the pathological forms of narcissism and perceived stress. There was no evidence of any moderating effect of humor styles on the relationship between the pathological forms of narcissism and perceived stress. These findings are discussed in terms of the role that humor may play in explaining the association between the pathological forms of narcissism and perceived stress.

Do humor styles matter in the relationship between personality and subjective well‐being?

The primary goal of this research was to examine the role of humor styles in the relationships between personality (extraversion and neuroticism) and two components of subjective well-being: life satisfaction and affective well-being. The sample consisted of 225 young adults, with mean age 23.61 years. Results indicated that the relationship between both extraversion and neuroticism and satisfaction with life could be partially explained by the mediating role of self-enhancing humor. Additionally, affiliative humor proved to be a partial mediator of the relationship between neuroticism and affective well-being. The findings of this research suggested that adaptive humor styles might be one of the mechanisms linking personality and subjective well-being.

Humor style mediates the association between pathological narcissism and self-esteem

The aim of the present study was to examine whether humor styles mediated the associations between the pathological forms of narcissism (grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism) and self-esteem in a sample of Israeli undergraduates ( N = 200). Grandiose narcissism was positively associated with the use of adaptive humor (i.e., self-enhancing humor and affiliative humor), whereas vulnerable narcissism was negatively associated with the use of adaptive humor and positively associated with the use of maladaptive humor (i.e., self-defeating humor and aggressive humor). These forms of humor were found to mediate the associations between the pathological forms of narcissism and self-esteem. Findings are discussed in terms of the role that humor may play in the self-esteem regulation of individuals with pathological narcissism.

Humor styles and their relationship to explicit and implicit self-esteem

Humor is an essential part of our life and an important means to cope with stressful life events. Recent research established that humor is a multi-faceted construct that includes both adaptive and maladaptive humor styles. Whereas self-enhancing and affiliative humor styles seem to be beneficial, aggressive and self-defeating humor styles may be less beneficial or even detrimental to mental health. Self-defeating humor correlates positively with loneliness, shyness, depression, and negatively with explicit (i.e., conscious, deliberate) self-esteem. Furthermore, research has found that individuals possessing “damaged” self-esteem (i.e., a self-esteem discrepancy where individuals exhibit low explicit but high implicit [i.e., unconscious, automatic] self-esteem) have very similar characteristics as individuals using self-defeating humor. We therefore theorized that there is an association between damaged self-esteem and self-defeating humor, which we indeed found. Possible mechanisms and explanations for this link are discussed.

Perceived Parental Warmth and Rejection in Childhood as Predictors of Humor Styles and Subjective Happiness

This research examined maternal and paternal warmth (acceptance) and rejection (hostility and aggression, indifference/neglect, and undifferentiated rejection), as remembered by young adults, in relation to humor styles and subjective happiness. A total of 283 Lebanese college students completed the Arabic versions of the Adult Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire for Mother and Father, the Humor Styles Questionnaire, and the Subjective Happiness Scale. As predicted, parental warmth correlated positively and parental overall rejection and specific rejection scores correlated negatively with subjective happiness ratings. Parental warmth tended to correlate positively with use of adaptive humor styles, and negatively with use of maladaptive humor styles, while parental rejection tended to correlate positively with use of maladaptive humor styles and negatively with use of adaptive humor styles. In addition, self-enhancing humor mediated the relationships between parental warmth and rejection and subjective happiness. Overall, the findings are consistent with the view that parental warmth and rejection might contribute to the development of particular styles of humor, which in turn may contribute to later happiness and well-being.

Personality impressions associated with four distinct humor styles

This study examined how personality impressions about another person are influenced by the style of humor that person displays. Four distinct styles were examined, with two of these being adaptive (affiliative and self-enhancing humor), and two being maladaptive (aggressive and self-defeating humor). Participants read descriptions of an individual displaying each humor style, and then rated that individual on several other personality attributes (e.g., friendly, complaining). The adaptive humor styles enhanced personality impressions of another individual, whereas the maladaptive styles had strong detrimental effects. Furthermore, participants provided clearly differentiated personality impressions within both the adaptive and maladaptive humor categories. Affiliative humor led to more positive impressions of another than self-enhancing humor; whereas aggressive humor resulted in more negative personality impressions than self-defeating humor. These findings were discussed in terms of approaches to humor that acknowledge the multifaceted nature of this construct and the resulting impact on social relationships.

Humor Styles and Negative Affect as Predictors of Different Components of Physical Health

The extent to which humor and negative affect each predict different components of physical health was examined by having 105 participants complete measures of four distinct humor styles, negative affect, and three indices of physical health. An increased number of physical symptoms and more negative attitudes about illness were associated with higher levels of negative affect, but were unrelated to the humor styles. Conversely, three of the humor styles significantly predicted coping strategies for physical ailments and complaints, whereas negative affect did not. Adaptive self-enhancing humor was associated with facilitative coping strategies such as changing perspective, planning, and the effective use of humor. Maladaptive aggressive humor was linked to a more dysfunctional coping pattern that included greater denial and a reduction in the ability to change perspective. These findings reinforce the need to consider more complex models of humor that explicitly address the effects of both adaptive and maladaptive humor styles across a broad range of physical health measures while also considering effects that may be attributable to other highly-relevant attributes, such as negative affect.

Humor styles and psychosocial working conditions in relation to occupational burnout among doctors

Medical professionals are an occupational group at a particularly high risk for job burnout. The aim of the study was to determine relationships between humor styles and psychosocial working conditions on the one hand and occupational burnout in the medical profession on the other. Participants in the study were 82 professionally active doctors, interviewed and examined using questionnaire methods: the Maslach Burnout Inventory, Humor Styles Questionnaire, and the Psychosocial Working Conditions instrument. The results show that occupational burnout is a serious problem among medical doctors, even those with a short work history. Difficult psychosocial working conditions enhance the occupational burnout symptoms. Moreover, higher severity of burnout symptoms correlates with lower support from superiors and with less frequent utilization of adaptive humor styles: self-enhancing and affiliative. Therefore, it is worthwhile to develop programs of burnout prevention for medical professionals, with an emphasis on social skills training, and to enlarge such resources as support at workplace and humor utilization skills.

Humor styles, peer relationships, and bullying in middle childhood

AbstractContemporary approaches to understanding humor have developed models that underscore the importance of both adaptive and maladaptive humor styles. The expression of these humor styles can then impact either positively or negatively on the self or others. One such model, as recently proposed by Rod Martin and his colleagues, outlines four distinct humor styles; namely self-enhancing, affiliative, self-defeating, and aggressive humor. Several studies with both adults and older adolescents provide initial empirical support for this model, including the adaptive aspects of self-enhancing and affiliative humor, as well as the maladaptive components of self-defeating and aggressive humor. However, these four humor styles have yet to be considered with respect to children. As such, the present paper considers how these different humor styles may bear on peer relationships and bullying during middle childhood (ages 6–12). In our examination, we describe how adaptive and maladaptive humor styles may either help or hinder the child's status within a peer group. Special emphasis is directed towards potential relationships between specific humor styles and either peer acceptance or victimization, as well as both direct and indirect forms of bullying. We conclude by describing several potential areas of research that may prove beneficial in furthering our understanding of humor and social relationship issues in middle childhood.

Adaptive regression, humor, and suicide.

Adaptive regression, humor, and suicide.

Adaptive regression, humor, and suicide.

Adaptive regression, humor, and suicide.