Humor styles as mediators between self-evaluative standards and psychological well-being.
The authors examined how certain humor styles mediate the relations between self-evaluative standards (which form the primary evaluative component of the self-schema) and psychological well-being. As predicted, greater endorsement of positive self-evaluative standards led to the use of more affiliative humor, which, in turn, led to higher levels of social self-esteem and lower levels of depression. Also, as predicted, greater endorsement of negative self-evaluative standards led to the use of more self-defeating humor, which resulted in lower levels of social self-esteem and higher levels of depression. Further, affiliative humor also mediated the relation between negative self-evaluative standards and well-being. In this study, the greater endorsement of negative self-evaluative standards led to the use of less affiliative humor, which led to a decrease in social self-esteem. These results suggest that specific features associated with these 2 humor styles may contribute in a differential manner to an individual's level of well-being. In particular, the increased use of affiliative humor may facilitate the development and maintenance of social support networks that foster and enhance well-being. Alternatively, the greater use of self-defeating humor may result in the development of maladaptive social support networks that impede psychological well-being.
Kuiper
Nicholas A
NA
University of Western Ontario, Department of Psychology, Westminster Hall, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 3K7. kuiper@uwo.ca
McHale
Nicola
N
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009769:Object Attachment; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012059:Rejection, Psychology; D012649:Self Concept; D012933:Social Identification; D012944:Social Support; D014925:Wit and Humor as Topic; D055815:Young Adult