Money or funny: Effective connectivity during service recovery with a DCM-PEB approach

While monetary compensation is considered the most effective service recovery strategy, relief theory claims that humor may also be useful in service recovery situations. This study investigated the effects of humor in service recovery using dynamic causal modeling and parametric empirical Bayes analysis to identify effective connectivity (EC) patterns in the dopaminergic reward system across four conditions representing different service recovery strategies: monetary compensation and humor (MH), monetary compensation and an apology (MA), non-monetary compensation using humor (H), and non-monetary compensation using an apology (CON, the control condition). The findings support the importance of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) in the monetary compensation (MH and MA) conditions and the amygdala in the non-monetary compensation (H and CON) conditions. Monetary compensation (MH and MA) resulted in right substantia nigra (rSN) to NAc EC, suggesting the processing of recovery satisfaction associated with perceived outcome fairness. Conversely, non-monetary compensation strategies (H and CON) resulted in left substantia nigra (lSN) to amygdala EC, suggesting the processing of satisfaction related to perceived interactional fairness. The use of humor for service recovery resulted in VTA-to-lSN-to-amygdala EC during humor appreciation, while the use of apologies (CON and MA) resulted in lSN-to-amygdala and lSN-to-VTA connectivity. Surprisingly, processing satisfaction in the MH condition did not activate the amygdala during humor appreciation. Coping humor could be norm-violating for service recovery, and its effectiveness depends on multiple factors. The results suggest that monetary compensation, humorous responses, and apologies play key roles in neurological responses to service recovery strategies.

The state-trait model of cheerfulness: Tests of measurement invariance and latent mean differences in European and Chinese Canadian students

The State-Trait Cheerfulness Inventory (STCI) assesses latent traits and states of cheerfulness, seriousness, and bad mood to represent the temperamental basis of humor. The present study (1) tested the generalizability of the three-factor model in both state and trait versions of the STCI across European Canadian (N = 489) and first generation Chinese Canadian (N = 147) participants completing the English version of the STCI and (2) compared latent mean differences. Results indicated the confirmatory factor analyses of the three-factor model for European White participants born in Canada and Chinese participants born in China showed adequate fit for both trait and state measures. Furthermore, substantial equivalence of factor model parameters and partial scalar invariance were found for both the state and trait STCI measures. In examining latent mean differences, European White Canadian participants reported significantly higher trait cheerfulness, z = 3.30, p < .001, d = 0.84, and lower trait bad mood z = 3.25, p < .01, d = 0.80 compared to the Chinese Canadian groups. European White Canadian participants reported significantly lower state bad mood, z = 3.59, p < .001, d = 1.15, compared to the Chinese Canadian groups. Limitations and future directions based on study findings are discussed.

Negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on nurses can be buffered by a sense of humor and appreciation

BACKGROUND

The first analyses of the various consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic show that the risk to nurses' psychological well-being is particularly high. As the pandemic and the demands imposed on nurses are not yet fully understood, there is a need to seek buffering factors to protect nurses' psychological health. In line with the earliest evidence, we hypothesize pandemic-related increases in perceived stress and decreases in the frequency of flow experiences, likewise in satisfaction with work, life, work performance, and well-being. As protective factors while dealing with pandemic-related stress, we suggest an individual's sense of humor and perceived appreciation.

METHODS

In June/July 2020 - during the first lockdown in Germany - participants completed an online-survey in which they were asked to rate their situation before the pandemic (retrospectively) and during the pandemic. Our sample consisted of 174 registered nurses (161 females, 13 males, Mage = 40.52), of whom 85 worked as public health nurses and 89 as geriatric nurses.

RESULTS

During the pandemic, nurses felt more stressed, had fewer flow experiences, and were less satisfied with their work, life, work-performance, and well-being than before the pandemic. In addition, nurses felt more appreciation from society but less from their patients. Sense of humor and the perceived appreciation of society and patients were confirmed as buffers of negative pandemic-related effects.

CONCLUSION

Our study contributes to the so far scarce knowledge on nurses' pandemic-related stress and well-being in combination with their resources. Moreover, we were able to identify sense of humor and appreciation as protective factors.

Effectiveness of a Humor-Based Training for Reducing Employees' Distress

An increasing number of studies have demonstrated that humor can impact interpersonal relationships in organizations and employee well-being. However, there is little evidence coming from intervention studies in organizational settings. In response, we developed a training following the principles of positive psychology that aims at improving employees’ adaptive use of humor as a successful mechanism to deal with stress. In this study, we assess the effectiveness of such training and its impact on employee well-being. Results from this one-group intervention study in an emergency ambulance service (N = 58) revealed that the participants reported higher levels of cheerfulness (Z = −3.93; p < 0.001) and lower levels of seriousness (Z = −3.32; p < 0.001) after being exposed to the training. Indeed, the participants reported lower scores on psychological distress after the training (Z = −3.35; p < 0.001). The effect size of the training was medium (r = 0.31 to 0.36), suggesting that interventions to improve adaptive humor at work can be a useful resource to deal with workplace stress and foster employee well-being. These results may have interesting implications for designing and implementing positive interventions as well as for developing healthy organizations.

Development and Validation of the Short Version of the Sense of Humor Scale (SHS-S)

Abstract. Humor training has become increasingly popular to enhance the “sense of humor” and well-being and to decrease depressive symptoms. Despite the wide applications of these training programs, the assessment of training efficacy has attracted less attention. The Sense of Humor Scale (SHS; McGhee, 1996 , 1999 ) recently was expanded to a long version (SHS-L) to enhance its internal consistency ( Ruch & Heintz, 2018 ). At the same time, there is also the need for a brief version of this scale. The purpose of the present study is to develop a short version (SHS-S) in both German- and English-speaking countries, test its psychometric properties (internal consistency, factorial, construct, and criterion validity), and assess measurement invariance across gender and the two languages. Using three samples (Sample 1: 570 English-speakers, Sample 2: 353 German-speakers, Sample 3: 94 other-reports), the 29-item SHS-S was developed and yielded promising internal consistency and validity scores for the six humor skill factors of enjoyment of humor, laughter, verbal humor, finding humor in everyday life, laughing at yourself, and humor under stress. Overall, the SHS-S is an internally consistent, valid, and economic tool for future research and group-based applications, while the SHS-L seems especially useful in individual applications.

The State-Trait Cheerfulness Inventory State Version-Short Form (STCI-S18): An Examination of Language Use and Psychometric Properties

The State-Trait Cheerfulness Inventory-State Version (STCI-S) measures three states of cheerfulness, seriousness, and bad mood as the temperamental basis of humor. The present study investigates (1) the development and psychometric validation of a newly developed short version and (2) test-criterion validity with state measures and language use. Study 1 (N = 933) confirmed the three-dimensional structure, and both the short and standard versions demonstrated strong psychometric properties. Study 2 (N = 617) replicated these findings in a separate sample. Study 3 (N = 750) demonstrated expected intercorrelations with self-report state measures (i.e., inspiration, self-esteem, depression, anxiety). Participants were randomized to expressive writing conditions (i.e., writing about a retrospective cheerful, serious, or bad mood scenario). Unacquainted judges' and participants' ratings of three states in their respective scenarios converged (.44 < r < .62). Retrospective states cheerfulness, seriousness, and bad mood were associated with linguistic categories (e.g., emotional tone, clout, achievement, insight) identified in the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software. The impact of personality states on word usage may only be evident in specific contexts and situations. Presence of distinctive language use in these writing samples further demonstrated test-criterion validity and practicality of the STCI-S18.

Change in humor and sarcasm use based on anxiety and depression symptom severity during the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND

Humor and sarcasm may be used as potential coping strategies during challenging times, and to improve wellbeing. We investigated changes in humor and sarcasm use during the COVID-19 pandemic in participants with varying anxiety and depression symptom severity, and in those with versus without psychiatric disorders.

METHODS

Online data was collected from N = 661 Canadian adults during the height of COVID-19-related restrictions. Depression and anxiety symptom severity were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale. Participants were queried on current presence/absence of a psychiatric disorder, and on changes in humor and sarcasm use during compared to before the pandemic.

RESULTS

Participants with any vs. no depression symptoms reported more sarcasm and humor use during the pandemic. Respondents with mild and severe vs. no anxiety symptoms reported using more sarcasm. However, those with any vs. no anxiety symptoms used less humor during the pandemic. Finally, less humor use was noted in those without vs. with a psychiatric disorder.

LIMITATIONS

The use of self-report measures and a sample that may limit generalizability.

CONCLUSIONS

Adults with depression symptoms used more humor and sarcasm as a potential coping strategy during COVID-19. While individuals with anxiety symptoms used more sarcasm, this was not true of humor, suggesting their decreased reliance on levity during a crisis. Humor use was greater in those with psychiatric disorders, perhaps due to self-preservation mechanisms during times of distress. Our findings have implications for using humor in therapy in individuals with mental health struggles and mood disorders.

Care for Joy: Evaluation of a Humor Intervention and Its Effects on Stress, Flow Experience, Work Enjoyment, and Meaningfulness of Work

The media increasingly speak of a care crisis. Systematic support is needed to prepare nursing apprentices for the high demands of their profession and to reduce the number of nurses who finally quit. Particularly in stressful jobs like nursing, humor as a coping strategy can have a beneficial effect on perceived stress and overall work enjoyment. In this study, we used a humor intervention among nursing staff in training and evaluated its effects on humor, stress, work enjoyment, the meaningfulness of work, and flow experience. The sample consists of 104 nurses in training. The intervention group received a 3-h humor intervention, while the control group received no intervention. Positive and negative affect were measured immediately before and after the intervention. Humor was measured before the intervention (t₀) and again 6 months later (t₁); at t₁, we again measured humor and also stress, work meaningfulness, work enjoyment, and flow experience. Our analyses showed a beneficial change in positive and negative affect right after the intervention. By means of repeated measures ANOVA we could further confirm an effect of the intervention on reported humor 6 months later. Humor mediated positive effects of the humor intervention on perceived meaningfulness of work, work enjoyment, and on the frequency of flow at work. Also, we found a significant negative relationship between humor and stress measured at t₁. The results of this study confirm the effectiveness of humor interventions in promoting humor, and, through this, the meaningfulness of work, work enjoyment, and the frequency of flow experience. Implications of the use of humor interventions in the nursing profession are discussed.

Humorous Coping With Unrequited Love: Is Perspective Change Important?

A large number of studies suggest that humor is associated with mental well-being and effective as a means of coping. However, it is less well-understood which mechanisms are effective for this particular function of humor. The present study examines whether processes of change of perspective, which are often regarded as constitutive for humor, could be an effective coping-factor when facing unrequited love as a specific psychological burden. In a questionnaire study, N = 148 persons aged 18-65 years (w = 96) with actual or past experiences of unrequited love reported on their subjective burden due to this experience, their self-esteem and satisfaction with life, two scales for humor (Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale: MSHS, and a self-constructed scale: Humorous Change of Perspective, HCOP) and a coping scale which measure change of perspective in the confrontation with goal blockages (Flexible Goal Adjustment, FGA). Results indicated that the burden of unrequited love [operationalized objectively as actuality of experience (dichotomous) or subjectively as burden experienced] and both indicators of well-being were negatively associated. Multiple regression analyses showed that humor was a significant moderator of this relationship in nearly all combinations of operationalizations of humor and indicators of well-being: Higher levels of humor are associated with better well-being even when the perceived burden was high. In addition, the study examined whether the coping effect of humor can be partly or mainly attributed to the individual's capacity to perspective change as captured by FGA. When including this scale as a covariate in the regression models, the moderation effect for MSHS did not persist; however, for HCOP the moderation effect remained unchanged: the moderator effect of humorous change of perspective proved to be independent of FGA. Taken together the results suggest that perspective-changing skills play a significant role in the coping effect of humor in dealing with psychological burdens. However, depending on which humor facet is measured, the entailed perspective change may or may not appear to go beyond what the individual's FGA can account for. This suggests that the coping effect caused by humorous change of perspective includes aspects that are also discussed for other coping resources as well as its own, humor-specific aspects. Potential avenues for future studies are discussed both with respect to the necessity for replication and extension of the present study and to the determination of other potential alleviativing effects of other facets of humor.

Can Playfulness be Stimulated? A Randomised Placebo-Controlled Online Playfulness Intervention Study on Effects on Trait Playfulness, Well-Being, and Depression

BACKGROUND

While there are numerous applications of play-based interventions, there is little research on playfulness-based interventions. We applied interventions that aim at stimulating playfulness and test effects on happiness and depressive symptoms.

METHOD

In a randomised placebo-controlled online intervention, N = 533 participants were assigned to one of three 1-week playfulness conditions (i.e. three playful things, using playfulness in a new way, and counting playfulness) or a placebo condition. Participants reported on global playfulness, facets of playfulness, well-being, and depression at pretest, posttest, and at follow-ups after 2, 4, and 12 weeks.

RESULTS

All interventions increased expressions in all facets of playfulness, had short-term effects on well-being, and ameliorated depression.

CONCLUSION

Overall, findings suggest that playfulness can be stimulated by short self-administered interventions.

Development and Linguistic Cue Analysis of the State-Trait Cheerfulness Inventory-Short Form

The present study derived a short form of the State-Trait Cheerfulness Inventory-Trait Version (STCI-T30) using an item response theory framework. Latent trait test-retest correlations and reliability across the latent continuum in the STCI-T30 remained high. Moreover, the STCI-T30 showed external validity with criterion variables (e.g., playfulness) and a short writing task completed by these participants was rated by unacquainted judges to infer the author's cheerfulness, seriousness, and bad-mood. Results suggested significant self-other and inter-judge agreement of cheerfulness, seriousness, and bad-mood and linguistic cues analysis suggested cheerfulness and bad-mood manifested through writing in tone, social processes, and affect.

The Italian Version of the State-Trait Cheerfulness Inventory Trait Form: Psychometric Validation and Evaluation of Measurement Invariance

The State-Trait Cheerfulness Inventory–Trait Version (STCI-T60) measures the temperamental basis of sense of humor involving theoretically derived personality dispositions of cheerfulness, seriousness, and bad mood. The reliability and validity of the newly developed STCI-T60 Italian version were assessed in a sample of Italian speakers ( N = 683). Proper fit for a three-dimensional factor structure observed in previous studies was replicated and each factor demonstrated acceptable internal consistency and test–retest reliability. The associations between the STCI subscales and major personality dimensions, optimism, resilience, stress, and general well-being were further examined and results were in the expected directions (e.g., cheerfulness and bad mood being positively and negatively associated with well-being variables, respectively). Cross-cultural invariance examination was conducted to provide more validity data for the Italian STCI. Metric invariance was found between Italian and Canadian English speakers ( N = 632), but scalar invariance was not shown.

Who Benefits From Humor-Based Positive Psychology Interventions? The Moderating Effects of Personality Traits and Sense of Humor

The evidence for the effectiveness of humor-based positive psychology interventions (PPIs; i.e., interventions aimed at enhancing happiness and lowering depressive symptoms) is steadily increasing. However, little is known about who benefits most from them. We aim at narrowing this gap by examining whether personality traits and sense of humor moderate the long-term effects of humor-based interventions on happiness and depressive symptoms. We conducted two placebo-controlled online-intervention studies testing for moderation effects. In Study 1 (N = 104) we tested for moderation effects of basic personality traits (i.e., psychoticism, extraversion, and neuroticism) in the three funny things intervention, a humor-based PPI. In Study 2 (N = 632) we tested for moderation effects of the sense of humor in five different humor-based interventions. Happiness and depressive symptoms were assessed before and after the intervention, as well as after 1, 3, and 6 months. In Study 2, we assessed sense of humor before and 1 month after the intervention to investigate if changes in sense of humor go along with changes in happiness and depressive symptoms. We found moderating effects only for extraversion. Extraverts benefitted more from the three funny things intervention than introverts. For neuroticism and psychoticism no moderation effects were found. For sense of humor, no moderating effects were found for the effectiveness of the five humor-based interventions tested in Study 2. However, changes in sense of humor from pretest to the 1-month follow-up predicted changes in happiness and depressive symptoms. Taking a closer look, the playful attitude- and sense of humor-subscales predicted changes in happiness and depression for up to 6 months. Overall, moderating effects for personality (i.e., extraversion) were found, but none for sense of humor at baseline. However, increases in sense of humor during and after the intervention were associated with the interventions' effectiveness. Thus, we found humor-based interventions to be equally suited for humorous and non-humorous people, but increases in the sense of humor during the intervention phase could serve as an indicator whether it is worth continuing the intervention in the long-term.

Feasibility of a Humor Training to Promote Humor and Decrease Stress in a Subclinical Sample: A Single-Arm Pilot Study

The present study investigates the feasibility of a humor training for a subclinical sample suffering from increased stress, depressiveness, or anxiety. Based on diagnostic interviews, 35 people were invited to participate in a 7-week humor training. Evaluation measures were filled in prior training, after training, and at a 1-month follow-up including humor related outcomes (coping humor and cheerfulness) and mental health-related outcomes (perceived stress, depressiveness, anxiety, and well-being). Outcomes were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVAs. Within-group comparisons of intention-to-treat analysis showed main effects of time with large effect sizes on all outcomes. Post hoc tests showed medium to large effect sizes on all outcomes from pre to post and results remained stable until follow-up. Satisfaction with the training was high, attrition rate low (17.1%), and participants would highly recommend the training. Summarizing the results, the pilot study showed promising effects for people suffering from subclinical symptoms. All outcomes were positively influenced and showed stability over time. Humor trainings could be integrated more into mental health care as an innovative program to reduce stress whilst promoting also positive emotions. However, as this study was a single-arm pilot study, further research (including also randomized controlled trials) is still needed to evaluate the effects more profoundly.