Children's humor types and psychosocial adjustment

The Moderating Role of University Students' Humor Styles on the Association between General Mental Health and Subjective Well-Being

This study investigated the associations among humor styles, general mental health (GMH), and subjective well-being (SWB) in a non-clinical sample of 662 university students (Mage = 21.35, SD = 4.14; 66.3% females) attending Greek public universities, via an online survey. In addition, it investigated possible moderating effects of humor styles in the association between GMH and SWB as well as gender differences. Positive correlations emerged between GMH and SWB, as well as among GMH, SWB, and benign humor styles. Malignant humor styles had a negative correlation with both GMH and SWB. The use of aggressive and self-defeating humor moderated the association between GMH and SWB in that at low levels of these humor styles the link between GMH and SWB was stronger. Finally, males scored higher on self-enhancing and aggressive humor than females. The findings expand previous research and are discussed in terms of their implications.

Humor Styles, Bullying Victimization and Psychological School Adjustment: Mediation, Moderation and Person-Oriented Analyses

Humor can be both adaptive and maladaptive and plays a role in bullying victimization and school adjustment. It was hypothesized that humor styles decrease or increase victimization, which in turn affects school adjustment. Furthermore, humor might moderate effects of victimization on school adjustment. Moreover, a person-oriented approach could improve our understanding of group differences in these variables. An online questionnaire retrospectively surveyed emerging adults (N = 172; 77.2% female; mean age: 22.7 years) with respect to humor style use, bullying victimization and school adjustment. Mediation and moderation analyses were computed, and two sets of person-oriented analyses compared victims, bully-victims and noninvolved students on humor styles and school adjustment, and three latent humor-related groups (overall-high, adaptive-high and adaptive-low) on victimization and school adjustment. Victimization fully mediated the positive effect of affiliative humor and partially mediated the negative effect of self-defeating humor on school adjustment. The negative effect of victimization on school adjustment was magnified by self-defeating humor and attenuated by aggressive humor. Bully-victims used both aggressive and self-defeating humor more frequently, and victims used aggressive and affiliative humor less frequently. Furthermore, both victims and bully-victims showed lower school adjustment. Finally, the adaptive-high humor group showed lower victimization and higher school adjustment. Implications for school interventions are discussed.

Big Five Traits Based Profiles and Humor Styles in Preadolescents

Abstract. The present study investigated the relationship between Big Five traits-based profiles and humor styles in a sample of 426 Greek preadolescents. Latent Profile Analysis yielded three distinct personality profiles: resilients, average, and undercontrollers. These profiles exhibited significant group differences in humor styles. The resilient profile displayed the highest scores on the two benign humor styles and the lowest on the two malign styles. On the contrary, the under controllers scored lowest on the two benign humor styles and highest on self-defeating humor. Findings showed that the patterns identified in the extant literature between humor, personality, and adjustment generalize to preadolescents. These are discussed with reference to prior work and relevant theoretical implications.

Humorous cognitive reappraisal: More benign humour and less "dark" humour is affiliated with more adaptive cognitive reappraisal strategies

The capacity to find humorous perspectives in aversive situations may outline a helpful strategy in the context of cognitive reappraisal. Yet, research suggested that some people produce more adaptive humour than others. At the same time, not all forms of cognitive reinterpretation seem to be unequivocally beneficial. The present study aimed to investigate specific cognitive reappraisal strategies that individuals employ in humorous reappraisal of adverse events. In a sample of 95 participants, the use of cognitive reappraisal sub-strategies was assessed in a behavioural test in which participants were required to generate a series of humorous reappraisals of self-relevant, threatening events. These reappraisal sub-strategies (three positive reinterpretation strategies, three de-emphasising strategies) were then related to the habitual use of different kinds of humour as well as the broader DSM-5 personality trait domains and well-being in terms of depressive experiences, assessed by self-report questionnaires. While no robust relationships were found for reappraisal strategies based on de-emphasising, sub-strategies within the positive reinterpretation category showed specific and contrasting associations with the examined traits. Findings indicated that the ability to produce humour is only linked to a favourable pattern of reappraisal strategies when manifested in benign forms of humour. Specific relations also emerged for the broader personality traits. The study suggests that some characteristics that advance the use of benign humour also benefit adaptive emotion regulation. The opposite seems to be true for malicious, or "dark" humour. The introduced behavioural approach to the analysis of humorous cognitive reappraisal may prove useful also in future related research.

'H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, PEE! Get it? Pee!': Siblings' shared humour in childhood

Humour is a central feature of social interactions in childhood that has received little attention. In a sample of 86 7-year-old children (M age = 7.82 years, SD = 0.80), we investigated patterns and individual differences in spontaneous humour observed during free play with their older (M age = 9.55 years, SD = 0.88) or their younger sibling (M age = 5.87 years, SD = 0.96). We coded children's instances, categories, and responses to humour. We investigated the nature of children's humour on the dyadic and individual level. Humour was common, and siblings' production of humour was highly interdependent between play partners. Dyadic humour differed according to structural features of the sibling relationship (age, gender composition), and 7-year-old focal children's humour varied according to gender. This study contributes to knowledge regarding the dyadic nature of children's humour and individual patterns of humour beyond the preschool years. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Humour is an integral part of children's close and intimate interactions. Children produce humour from an early age and increasingly produce more complex humour as they develop. Few studies examine children's humour with siblings and beyond the fourth year of life. What does this study add? Children's humour during free play with siblings was common and highly dyadic. Sibling dyads' humour differed according to age and gender composition. Seven-year-old boys produced more humour than girls.

Longitudinal associations between younger children's humour styles and psychosocial adjustment

Whilst a multitude of studies have examined links between different styles of humour and aspects of adjustment, longitudinal research is noticeably lacking. Following a study which identified bidirectional associations between humour styles and psychosocial adjustment in older children, the current research aimed to investigate these associations in younger children. In total, 413 children aged 8-11 years completed the humour styles questionnaire for younger children (HSQ-Y) alongside measures of psychosocial adjustment in both the autumn and the summer over the course of a school year. Findings across the school year suggested that children's adjustment may impact significantly on their use of different styles of humour. Further longitudinal research over a longer time period would now be beneficial to further increase our understanding of the associations between humour styles and adjustment throughout development. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Research has identified associations between children's humour styles and psychosocial adjustment. Research with older children has also identified longitudinal associations. What does this study add? This is the first study to identify longitudinal associations between humour styles and adjustment in younger children. This allows for stronger statements to be made about causal relationships.

Are Clowns Good for Everyone? The Influence of Trait Cheerfulness on Emotional Reactions to a Hospital Clown Intervention

Trait cheerfulness predicts individual differences in experiences and behavioral responses in various humor experiments and settings. The present study is the first to investigate whether trait cheerfulness also influences the impact of a hospital clown intervention on the emotional state of patients. Forty-two adults received a clown visit in a rehabilitation center and rated their emotional state and trait cheerfulness afterward. Facial expressions of patients during the clown visit were coded with the Facial Action Coding System. Looking at the total sample, the hospital clown intervention elicited more frequent facial expressions of genuine enjoyment (Duchenne smiles) than other smiles (Non-Duchenne smiles), and more Duchenne smiles went along with more perceived funniness, a higher level of global positive feelings and transcendence. This supports the notion that overall, hospital clown interventions are beneficial for patients. However, when considering individual differences in the receptiveness to humor, results confirmed that high trait cheerful patients showed more Duchenne smiles than low trait cheerful patients (with no difference in Non-Duchenne smiles), and reported a higher level of positive emotions than low trait cheerful individuals. In summary, although hospital clown interventions on average successfully raise the patients' level of positive emotions, not all patients in hospitals are equally susceptible to respond to humor with amusement, and thus do not equally benefit from a hospital clown intervention. Implications for research and practitioners are discussed.