title: Self-esteem instability and humor styles: does the stability of self-esteem influence how people use humor?
abstract: The purpose of the present study was to examine whether self-esteem instability moderated the association between self-esteem level and the use of humor. This was accomplished by examining the associations that humor styles had with self-esteem level and self-esteem instability among 499 undergraduates. The results of the present study show that self-esteem instability moderated the association between self-esteem level and humor styles such that individuals with stable high self-esteem reported the highest levels of affiliative humor as well as the lowest levels of aggressive and self-defeating humor. These results suggest that individuals with stable and unstable forms of self-esteem employ different styles of humor.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vaughan
authors.forename: Virgil
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zeigler-Hill
authors.forename: Randolph C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Arnau
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D012649:Self Concept; D012933:Social Identification; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014925:Wit and Humor as Topic