Individual differences in uses of humor and their relation to psychological well-being: Development of the Humor Styles Questionnaire

Martin, Rod A.; Puhlik-Doris, Patricia; Larsen, Gwen; Gray, Jeanette; Weir, Kelly A.

doi:10.1016/s0092-6566(02)00534-2

Cited by 1,523 publications

(2,874 citation statements)

References 42 publications

Supporting

154

Mentioning

2,486

Contrasting

Unclassified

160

Order By: Relevance

“…These alpha coefficients are similar to those reported by Martin et al (2003). Correlations among the HSQ subscales are reported separately for males and females in Table 1.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 84%

“…Given the shift toward a multidimensional characterization of humor, recent BG investigations have investigated the etiology of humor styles using the Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ; Martin et al, 2003) The HSQ assesses four styles of humor, two of which are positive (affiliative and self-enhancing) and two of which are negative (aggressive and self-defeating). Affiliative humor involves the use of jokes and witticisms to amuse others in an attempt to facilitate interpersonal relationships.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Forms of this humor style include sarcasm, teasing, ridicule, and offensive comments. Finally, self-defeating humor involves an attempt to entertain others by laughing at oneself while being ridiculed and entertaining others at one's own expense (Martin et al, 2003). Vernon et al (2008b) used a sample of 300 monozygotic (MZ) and 156 same-sex dizygotic (DZ) adult twin pairs from the United States (U.S.) to conduct a BG investigation of humor styles, as measured by the HSQ.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A Behavioral Genetic Study of Humor Styles in an Australian Sample

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The present study investigated the extent to which individual differences in humor styles are attributable to genetic and/or environmental factors in an Australian sample. Participants were 934 same-sex pairs of adult twins from the Australian Twin Registry (546 monozygotic pairs, 388 dizygotic pairs) who completed the Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ). The HSQ measures four distinct styles of humor -affiliative, self-enhancing, aggressive, and self-defeating. Results revealed that additive genetic and non-shared environmental factors accounted for the variance in all four humor styles, thus replicating results previously obtained in a sample of twins from the United Kingdom. However, a study conducted with a U.S. sample produced different results and we interpret these findings in terms of cross-cultural differences in humor.

show abstract

“…These alpha coefficients are similar to those reported by Martin et al (2003). Correlations among the HSQ subscales are reported separately for males and females in Table 1.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 84%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A Behavioral Genetic Study of Humor Styles in an Australian Sample

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We (Heintz and Ruch 2015) recently observed a discrepancy in the different construct stages of the HSQ (Humor Styles Questionnaire; Martin et al 2003). Employing a multitrait-multimethod framework, we tested the convergence of three of these stages (i. e. definitions, construct descriptions, and HSQ scales as provided by Martin et al 2003), which served as three indicators of the four humor styles.…”

Section: Conceptualizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Employing a multitrait-multimethod framework, we tested the convergence of three of these stages (i. e. definitions, construct descriptions, and HSQ scales as provided by Martin et al 2003), which served as three indicators of the four humor styles. This resulted in a high convergence for the self-defeating humor style and a lower convergence and partial mismatches for the affiliative, *Corresponding author: Sonja Heintz, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Binzmuehlestr.…”

Section: Conceptualizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reply to Martin (2015): Why our conclusions hold

Heintz

Ruch

2016

Humor

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

. 635-639) suggested that our study could be methodologically flawed, thereby limiting the conclusions that can be drawn. In the present reply, we discuss each of these criticisms and demonstrate that these are likely unfounded and do not influence our results and conclusions. Thus we still suggest that the gap between the conceptualization and the measurement of humor styles should be closed to improve the construct validity of the HSQ. This would allow interpreting the manifold findings with the HSQ and deriving hypotheses for future studies based on the humor style constructs. 28. 635-639) suggested that our study could be methodologically flawed, thereby limiting the conclusions that can be drawn. In the present reply, we discuss each of these criticisms and demonstrate that these are likely unfounded and do not influence our results and conclusions. Thus we still suggest that the gap between the conceptualization and the measurement of humor styles should be closed to improve the construct validity of the HSQ. This would allow interpreting the manifold findings with the HSQ and deriving hypotheses for future studies based on the humor style constructs.

show abstract

Responding to Callous Humor in Health Care

Piemonte

Abreu

2020

AMA Journal of Ethics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although humor in health care can facilitate relationship building between patients and clinicians, callous humor used to deflect or dismiss distressing emotions undermines relationships, erodes trust, and expresses disregard for vulnerability. Because it affects collegiality, training, and patient care, callous humor should not be tolerated, especially when directed at patients. This article considers why it is important to respond to colleagues who make callous jokes and suggests how to do so. Functions of Humor in Health Care It's likely that humor is as old as healing. Hippocrates, for instance, advised his patients to "contemplate on comic things" to facilitate recovery. 1 Today, one would be hardpressed to find many physicians prescribing laughter and humor for patients, although clinicians frequently use humor. Indeed, humor in clinical settings can be welcomed by patients, and understandably so: humor and joking can put some patients at ease, level power imbalances, facilitate relationship building, and help patients articulate things they might otherwise be afraid to say. 2,3,4,5 Humor can also help clinicians relieve tension, make people on a health care team feel better, and even alleviate burnout. 6,7 Ultimately, humor can bring feelings of levity, pleasure, and connection as well as mutual understanding to situations that might otherwise feel bleak, tragic, or lonely. Humor also has drawbacks with which many clinicians are familiar. 8 Gallows humor or jokes that are callous, derogatory, or cynical are common, although usually shared out of earshot of patients and their loved ones. 9 While some see this kind of humor as useful in a work environment plagued with suffering and death, 9 others have argued that it dehumanizes patients, undermines trust in practitioners, erodes the character of health care as a sector, and fosters cynicism and detachment among trainees during crucial phases of their professional development. 10,11,12 Indeed, callousness, whether manifest in a joke specifically or in an insensitive demeanor more generally, might indicate that one has experienced moral damage or distress-and such distress can cause health care practitioners to become less responsive to the needs and concerns of others. 13 Moral distress-the deep anguish practitioners feel when they are aware of not acting as they are motivated to act-can result from persistent, systemic issues like productivity and efficiency pressures, feelings of powerlessness in the face of patients'

show abstract

Individual differences in uses of humor and their relation to psychological well-being: Development of the Humor Styles Questionnaire

Cited by 1,523 publications

References 42 publications

A Behavioral Genetic Study of Humor Styles in an Australian Sample

A Behavioral Genetic Study of Humor Styles in an Australian Sample

Reply to Martin (2015): Why our conclusions hold

Responding to Callous Humor in Health Care

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About