The Relation of Humor to Depression and Personality

Deaner, Stephanie L.; McConatha, Jasmin Tahmaseb

doi:10.2466/pr0.1993.72.3.755

Cited by 66 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Emotional wellness was the most signi1cant variable separating the high and low sense of humour groups, although unlike the medical group, higher humour was associated with higher scores on emotional wellness. This 1nding was in accordance with those of Deaner and McConatha (1993), Kuiper and Martin (1993), and Martin and Lefcourt (1983), although it contradicts the 1ndings of Anderson and Arnoult (1989), Cann et al (1999) and Martin (1996).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

“…It appears that students' sense of humour is related to just one variable, emotional wellness, although they reported lower levels of health across 1ve of the eight health subscales when compared to the community group. Deaner and McConatha (1993) suggested students are subject to higher levels of anxiety and depression due to the pressure of study and exams.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Relationship of humour to health: A psychometric investigation

Boyle

Joss-Reid

2004

British J Health Psychol

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The effects of humour on health were investigated using a sample of 504 individuals comprising three groups (community group, university students, and respondents with a medical condition). Hypotheses were: that after controlling for other variables, humour would be significantly associated with health: that individuals with a greater sense of humour would report significantly higher levels of good health as compared with those with less humour; and that the assessment of the factor structure of the Multidimensional Sense of Humour Scale (MSHS) would support its construct validity in the Australian context. The present findings supported the view that a sense of humour is associated with health, and also provided support for the validity and reliability of the MSHS instrument.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationship of humour to health: A psychometric investigation

Boyle

Joss-Reid

2004

British J Health Psychol

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“…To our knowledge this is the first study in which mentalizing and humor processing was investigated in unipolar depression. Humour has shown to be associated with psychological health, and a reduced sense of humor has been related to psychological distress such as depression (Deaner & McConatha, 1993;Thorson & Powell, 1994;Thorson et al, 1997). Because humor-processing deficits in major depression may be because of mentalizing and executive deficits, the current findings may be of particular value for a more comprehensive understanding of the social behavior of patients with major depression.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

“…This is of particular importance in the light of studies reporting a positive association between sense of humor and psychological health, and a negative association between sense of humor and psychological distress such as depression (Deaner & McConatha, 1993;Thorson et al, 1997;Thorson & Powell, 1994). The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between humor processing, mentalizing, and executive functions in major depression.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Executive function, mentalizing and humor in major depression

Uekermann

Channon

Lehmkämper

et al. 2007

J Int Neuropsychol Soc

124

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Major depression is associated with cognitive deficits including memory, executive functions, and affect perception, which have been linked to dysfunction of fronto-subcortical networks. However, little is known about social cognition on more complex socially relevant tasks, such as humor processing. In this investigation a computerized humor-processing task was administered to 27 patients with a diagnosis of major depression (Dep) and 27 healthy controls (HC). Theory of mind (mentalizing) and executive functions were also assessed. Both groups were similar in IQ, age, and gender. Depressed patients performed below the control group with respect to both affective and cognitive aspects of humor processing, and these were related to mentalizing and executive performance. Our findings suggest social cognition deficits in major depression. Ability to process humor and appreciate mentalistic perspectives may in turn influence social interactions and should be given consideration in therapeutic approaches to depression. (JINS, 2008, 14, 55-62.)

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“…Nussbaum et al [13] described positive reactions to humorous material in depressed patients as a predictor of improvement. Humor as a coping strategy was negatively related to the degree of depression [14][15][16] , however, some researchers [12,14] only studied healthy subjects, without clinically relevant degrees of depression.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Depressed Patients Lose Their Sense of Humor

Falkenberg

Jarmuzek²,

Bartels³

et al. 2010

Psychopathology

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Background: Humor is an important coping mechanism and can improve mood. However, it is unclear whether depressed patients are able to enjoy funny material, e.g. jokes, and make use of their sense of humor for coping with adverse situations. This study aims at investigating the influence of depression on various aspects of humor abilities such as sense of humor, appraisal of funny material and exhilaration. Sampling and Methods: Nineteen patients with major depression and 18 healthy controls were examined with standardized self-assessment questionnaires to study potential group differences in humor type preferences, state and trait cheerfulness, seriousness and bad mood as well as humor coping. Results: Patients and controls did not differ in their humor type preferences and the degree to which humorous stimuli were rated as being funny. The readiness to react to funny stimuli with exhilaration was significantly less pronounced in the patient group. The patients’ tendency to use humor as a coping strategy was significantly lower than in the control group. Conclusion: The susceptibility to humorous material seems to be unaffected by the disorder. Introducing means to promote humor behavior might therefore be beneficial to depressed patients. Study limitations were that only self-rating instruments were used and that the medication was inhomogeneous.

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The Relation of Humor to Depression and Personality

Cited by 66 publications

References 15 publications

Relationship of humour to health: A psychometric investigation

Relationship of humour to health: A psychometric investigation

Executive function, mentalizing and humor in major depression

Do Depressed Patients Lose Their Sense of Humor

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