Relationship of Humor Styles and Mental Health Outcomes

Among Adults

Literature Review

The findings of another research support the idea that Humor style protects adults from

anxiety,and depression. It was also noticed that positive correlation may be found between

negative humor styles (self-defeating and aggressive) with depressed affect ( Marisa L. Kfrerer et

al., 2017). However, the limitations of the earlier article may help guide future studies. The

perception and application of Humor styles are greatly influenced by cultural differences, people

from collectivistic cultures tend to favor adaptive humor forms more than those from
individualistic cultures, who may be more inclined towards maladaptive types. These cultural

differences imply that the preventive benefits of Humor could not be universally applicable and

need more cross-cultural confirmation. Additionally, the findings objectivity is limited by the fact

that many studies rely on self-reported data, and longitudinal research is required to prove a

tenuous link between humor types and mental health. (Falkenberg et al; 2013) Aggressive humor

has been positively linked to neuroticism and negatively correlated with conscientiousness. A

humor that should be investigated further may be “dark humor”, a type of humor dated back to

Shakespearean literature, which can be best exposed in crisis or trauma-inducing situations. Dark

humor may have roots in both aggressive and self-enhancing constructs, and warrants further

investigation (Marisa L. Kfrerer, The University of Western Ontario May 28, 2018).

Another study examines how humor styles impact emotion regulation and well-being among

young adults, a group often vulnerable to mental health challenges. Their findings reveal that

affiliative and self-enhancing humor styles are linked to better emotional control and higher

levels of subjective well-being. These humor styles enable individuals to approach stressful

situations with a positive mindset, strengthening their emotional resilience. In contrast, self-

defeating humor was associated with poorer emotional regulation and lower well-being,

highlighting its potential harm when used excessively. This study provides clear evidence that
humor styles play a pivotal role in how young adults manage their emotions and overall mental

health (Amjad and Dasti ,2020).

One limitation of this study is its narrow focus on university students aged 18-24, which limits

its generalizability to other adult populations.The reliance on self-reported data also introduces

the potential for bias, as participants may not accurately assess their humor styles or mental

health (schneider et al, 2018). Future research should include more diverse and representative

samples to explore how humor styles function across different age groups and life stages. Studies

could also combine self-reports with behavioral observations to provide a more objective
measure of humor use and its effects.

This study explores how attachment styles impact life satisfaction and emotional resilience

among adult students, with self-compassion acting as a mediator. Both humor styles and

attachment styles are psychological frameworks that influence emotional well-being and mental

health. Attachment styles whether secure, anxious, or avoidant affect how individuals regulate

emotions, cope with stress, and perceive their satisfaction with life. Self-compassion, a key

mediator in this study, is similarly essential in understanding how positive humor styles like self-

enhancing humor support resilience and overall mental health. For instance, humor that promotes

self-acceptance and positive reframing aligns closely with the benefits of self-compassion

(Ailada Sasiprapha ,2022) . The findings reveal that avoidant attachment negatively correlates

with self-compassion, life satisfaction, and emotional resilience, while anxious attachment has

mixed outcomes showing unexpected links to resilience but negatively impacting life

satisfaction. This aligns with studies on maladaptive humor styles (like self-defeating humor),

where individuals undermine their emotional well-being for social acceptance, exacerbating

stress and mental health struggles(Alacorn, Rafael, Saray Hevilla, 2020).

To strengthen these findings, future research should incorporate longitudinal designs to establish

causal relationships between attachment styles, self-compassion, and mental health outcomes.
Expanding the sample to include adults and diverse cultural backgrounds would also improve

generalizability, allowing researchers to explore how these variables operate across different life

stages and social contexts.( Amjab, Arooba and Rabia dasti, 2022)

This study contributes significantly to understanding how different humor styles relate to mental

health outcomes, which ties closely to the broader focus of humor styles and mental well-being

in adults. The authors demonstrate that adaptive humor styles particularly affiliative humor (used

to connect with others) and self-enhancing humor (used to maintain optimism in challenging

situations) are positively associated with psychological resilience and happiness. These findings
suggest that such humor styles act as protective mechanisms for mental health by fostering

emotional stability, stress reduction, and social support. In contrast, maladaptive humor styles,

such as self-defeating humor and aggressive humor, show negative mental health outcomes. Self-

defeating humor, which involves self-mockery for social acceptance, is linked to lower resilience

and reduced happiness, potentially exacerbating conditions like anxiety and depression.

Aggressive humor, characterized by mockery or sarcasm directed at others, contributes to

interpersonal conflicts and heightened stress levels. These results emphasize that humor is not

universally beneficial; its mental health impact depends on how it is expressed. (Jiang, Yue, and

Lu 2021). Acknowledge certain limitations in their research. The study’s reliance on adults as a

sample group limits its generalizability to older adult populations, who may experience and use

humor differently. Additionally, the cross-sectional design prevents determining whether humor

styles influence mental health over time or vice versa. Future studies employing longitudinal

designs could better explore the causal links between humor styles and mental health outcomes

among adults (Abbasi, Mohammed. 2017).

The authors suggest future research should examine whether humor-based interventions could

improve mental health outcomes, such as resilience and happiness, across different adult age

groups. Furthermore, cultural variations in humor perception and its impact on mental health

remain underexplored. Addressing these gaps could offer a deeper understanding of how
adaptive humor styles can be used as tools to promote well-being in adults (Jiang, Yue, and Lu

2021).

METHOD

Research design

This research will be conducted using cross- sectional research design.

Sample

The sample comprises 250-300 adults. Participants for this study will be selected using the

convenience sample method.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adults aged 18-25

• Students enrolled in Shifa Tameer-e-Millat university and COMSATS university

of Islamabad

• This study would include Males and Females both.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Participants with psychotic disorders or serious impairments will not be included

in the study.

Operational definition

Mental Health: Mental health is the ability to manage negative emotional states such as anxiety

and depression, maintaining emotional and behavioral control in the face of stress. It involves

experiencing general positive affect, building and maintaining emotional ties with others, and

achieving life satisfaction through personal growth and meaningful experiences. Mental health is
not simply the absence of mental illness but also the presence of resilience, emotional well-

being, and the capacity to navigate life’s challenges with positive outcomes (Oltmanns,2017).

Mental Health will be measured through Mental Health Inventory-38 (Veit & Ware, 1983)

Humor Styles: Humor is defined as intentional acts that are done to make a person, a group of

people laugh for as long as they are thought to be funny. (Martin, 2010; Holmesor , 2000;

Cooper, 2005). Humor styles will be measured through Humor Style Questionnaire (Rod.

Martin,2003).

Instruments

• Humor Style Questionnaire (HSQ)

Humor styles would be measured using humor style questionnaire. It measures four types of

humor styles (Rod. Martin,2003). This adapted version has 32 items grouped into four

dimensions referring to the habitual use of humor, Affiliative Humor (enjoying making people

laugh), Self-enhancing Humor (finding something funny in every situation), Aggressive Humor

(enjoying making jokes at other people’s cost), Self-defeating Humor (making fun to gain

approval from others). Each dimension has eight 7-point Likert-type response scales, ranging

from 1 (totally disagree) and 7 (totally agree).

This is used by participants to answer the humorous questions. Items with reverse keys

1, 7, 9, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 25, 29, and 31 Subscales Affiliative humor (1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25,

29), Humor that enhances oneself (2, 6, 10, 14, 18, 22, 26, 30), Humor that is aggressive (3, 7,

11, 15, 19, 23, 27, 31), Humor that backfires (4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32) Reliability of HSQ

scale reliability is 0.82. The HSQ is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing humor in

healthcare professionals (Heintz, S., & Ruch, W.2015).

• Mental Health Inventory (MHI-38)

A well-known psychometric instrument for evaluating people's mental health and general well-
being across a range of demographics is the Mental Health Inventory (MHI-38).The 38 items on

the MHI-38 assess important aspects of mental health, such as Anxiety, Depression, Emotional

ties, life satisfaction and over all psychological wellbeing. (Veit & Ware, 1983)

Participants respond to questions based on a Likert scale, rating their mental state. Higher scores

indicate better mental health. (Brenner,& McNair,1992).

The reliability (internal consistency) estimates for all scales are more than satisfactory for group

comparisons, ranging from 0.83 to 0.91 for scales based on the five lower order factors and from

0.92 to 0.96 for scales based on the two higher order factors. The stability coefficients are in the
0.56 to 0 .64 range. The item level and overall content validity indexes (CVI) were calculated for

the MHI‐38 and a CVI of 0.78 or higher was acceptable (Polit & Beck, 2004).

Data Analysis

The data used will be:

• Descriptive statistics: It will be used to summarize the distribution of humor styles and

mental health outcomes

• Correlational Analysis: Pearson’s or Spearman’s correlation coefficients will be used to

find relationship between humor styles and mental health outcomes.

• Multiple Regression Analysis: It will be conducted with mental health outcomes as

dependent variable and Humor styles as independent variable

Ethical Consideration

In informed Consent, all participants will give informed consent before starting the survey.

Confidentiality, responses will be kept anonymous or confidential, with no personally

identifiable information collected. Right to Withdraw Participants can withdraw from the study

at any time without penalty. Mental Health Resources links to mental health support will be

provided in the debriefing.

Procedure

With the permission of participants/university students of Shifa Tameer-e-Millat and Comsats

Universities will be approached by the researcher. After the brief introduction about the study,

informed consent will be obtained from the participants. The participants will be provided with

information regarding their rights and confidentiality of the research i.e. participants can

withdraw the research whenever they want, and their information will be protected in all

circumstances. The researcher is going to use correlational design of the research using

convenience sampling. Adults from age 18-60 are going to be the participants. Then the data will
be collected and each confusion regarding it made clear. Moreover, participants will be requested

to be honest when they provide the answer and at the end, they will be thanked for their

cooperation. Participants will also be provided with information regarding the scales/

instruments. To determine the results, SPSS was used for Descriptive Analysis, Multiple

regression Analysis, Correlation Analysis.

References

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(2020). Humor as a protective factor against anxiety and depression. International journal of

clinical and health psychology, 20(1), 38-45.

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Adaralegbe N, Kaur G, Eze-Njoku C, Soomro F, Eche VC, Popoola HA, Anugwom GO. A

Comprehensive Review on the Effects of Humor in Patients With Depression. Cureus. 2022 Sep

17;14(9):e29263. doi: 10.7759/cureus.29263. PMID: 36262951; PMCID: PMC9576124.

Ford, T. E., Lappi, S. K., O’Connor, E. C., & Banos, N. C. (2017). Manipulating humor styles:
Engaging in self-enhancing humor reduces state anxiety. Humor, 30(2), 169-191

Smith, J., & Doe, A. (2018). Exploring the effects of mindfulness on mental health outcomes.

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Jiang, F., Lu, S., Jiang, T., & Jia, H. (2020). Does the relation between humor styles and

subjective well-being vary across culture and age? A meta-analysis. Frontiers in psychology, 11,

2213.

Amjad, A., Dasti, R. Humor styles, emotion regulation and subjective well-being in young
adults. Curr Psychol 41, 6326–6335 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-01127-y

Plessen, C. Y., Franken, F. R., Ster, C., Schmid, R. R., Wolfmayr, C., Mayer, A. M., ... & Tran, U.

S. (2020). Humor styles and personality: A systematic review and meta-analysis on the relations

between humor styles and the Big Five personality traits. Personality and Individual Differences,

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https://repository.au.edu/bitstreams/dd160c37-c547-4060-a5b4-3224a2c65bf8/download

Kennison, S. M. (2022). Humor and resilience: relationships with happiness in young adults.

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Appendices

Humor Style Questionnaire (HSQ)

Please read each statement carefully, and indicate the degree to which you agree or

disagree with it. Please respond as honestly and objectively as you can..
Totally Moderately Slightly Neither Slightly Moderately Totally
disagree disagree disagree agree or agree Agree Agree
disagree
1 I usually don't
laugh or joke
around much
with other
people

2 If I am feeling
depressed, I
can usually
cheer myself
up with humor.

3 If someone
makes a
mistake, I will
often tease
them about it.

4 I let people
laugh at me or
make fun at
my expense
more than I
should

5 I don't have to
work very
hard at
making other

people laugh --
I seem to be a
naturally
humorous
person
6 Even when I'm
by myself, I'm
often amused
by the
absurdities of
life
7 People are
never offended
or hurt by my
sense of humor

8 I will often get

carried away in
putting myself
down if it
makes my
family or
friends laugh.

9 I rarely make
other people
laugh by
telling funny
stories about
myself

10 If I am feeling
upset or
unhappy I
usually try to
think of
something
funny about
the situation to

make myself
feel better.
11 When telling
jokes or saying
funny things, I
am usually not
very concerned
about how
other people
are taking it.

12 I often try to
make people
like or accept
me more by
saying
something
funny about
my own
weaknesses,
blunders, or
faults

13 I laugh and
joke a lot with
my friends

14 My humorous
outlook on life
keeps me from
getting overly
upset or
depressed
about things.

15 I do not like it
when people
use humor as a
way of
criticizing or
 putting
someone down.

16 I don't often
say funny
things to put
myself down.

17 I usually don't
like to tell
jokes or amuse
people

18 If I'm by
myself and I'm
feeling
unhappy, I
make an effort
to think of
something
funny to cheer
myself up.

19
Sometimes I
think of
something that
is so funny that
I can't stop
myself from
saying it, even
if it is not
appropriate
for the
situation
20 I often go
overboard in
putting myself
down when I
am making
jokes or trying
to be funny.
21 I enjoy making
people laugh

22 If I am feeling
sad or upset, I
usually lose my
sense of
humor.

23 I never
participate in
laughing at
others even if
all my friends
are doing it.

24 When I am
with friends or
family, I often
seem to be the
one that other
people make
fun of or joke
about.

25 don't often
joke around
with my
friends

26 It is my
experience that
thinking about
some amusing
aspect of a
situation is
often a very
effective way of
coping with
problems.
27 If I don't
like
someone, I
often use

humor or
teasing to put
them down.

28 If I am having
problems or
feeling
unhappy, I
often cover it
up by joking
around, so that
even my closest
friends don't
know how I
really fee

29 I usually can't
think of witty
things to say
when I'm with
other people

30 I don't need to
be with other
people to feel
amused -- I can
usually find
things to laugh
about even
when I'm by
myself
 31 Even if
something is
really funny to
me, I will not
laugh or joke
about it if
someone will
be offended.

32 Letting others
laugh at me is
my way of
keeping my
friends and
family in good
spirits.

MHI-38

Please read each question and tick the box by the ONE statement that bestdescribes how

things have been FOR YOU during the past month. There are no right or wrong answers.

1)How happy, satisfied, or pleased have you been with your personal life during the

pastmonth? (Tick one)

a)Extremely happy, could not have been more satisfied or pleased

b)Very happy most of the time

c)Generally, satisfied, pleased

d)Sometimes fairly satisfied, sometimes fairly unhappy

e)Generally dissatisfied, unhappy

f)Very dissatisfied, unhappy most of the time

2)How much of the time you have felt lonely during the past month?

a)All of the time

b)Some of the time

c)Most of the time

e)A little of the time

f)A good bit of the time

g)None of the time

3)How often did you become nervous or jumpy when faced with excitement or

unexpectedsituations during the past month?