Posttraumatic growth (PTG) and posttraumatic depreciation (PTD) across ten countries: Global validation of the PTG-PTD theoretical model

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Sense of Humor, Stable Affect, and Psychological Well-Being

A good sense of humor has been implicated as a quality that could contribute to psychological well-being. The mechanisms through which sense of humor might operate include helping to reappraise threats, serving as a character strength, or facilitating happiness. The current research attempts to integrate these possibilities by examining whether a good sense of humor might operate globally by helping to maintain a more stable positive affect. Stable positive affect has been shown to facilitate more effective problem solving and to build resilience. However, not all humor is adaptive humor, so we also examine the roles that different styles of humor use might play. Individual differences in humor styles were used to predict stable levels of affect. Then, in a longitudinal design, humor styles and stable affect were used to predict subsequent resilience and psychological health. The results indicated that stable affect was related to resilience and psychological well-being, and that a sense of humor that involves self-enhancing humor, humor based on maintaining a humorous perspective about one’s experiences, was positively related to stable positive affect, negatively related to stable negative affect, and was mediated through stable affect in influencing resilience, well-being and distress. Thus, while a good sense of humor can lead to greater resilience and better psychological health, the current results, focusing on stable affect, find only self-enhancing humor provides reliable benefits

Research on the Role of Humor in Well-Being and Health

In this interview, Dr. Arnie Cann discusses his research and views on the ubiquitous role of humor in psychological health and well-being. The interview begins with Professor Cann recounting how he originally became interested in studying humor. He then reflects on the main findings associated with the wide variety of humor-related studies he has conducted over the years. In doing so, Dr. Cann provides suggestions and ideas for further research investigating the role of humor in health and well-being. Specific topic areas discussed include the use of humor in the workplace and other social domains, personality approaches to humor, humor and interpersonal processes, humor and psychopathology, and humor’s role in dealing with stress and well-being. One of the prominent themes in this interview is the clear recognition of sense of humor as a multi-dimensional construct that includes various components that may either be beneficial or detrimental to well-being. A further important theme is the major distinction between humor as an inherent personality construct versus humor that results from exposure to stimuli (e.g., a comedy film). Comments are also provided by Dr. Cann on how the positive affect stemming from humor may be of particular benefit to the individual. Also discussed is the recent move to more fully integrate contemporary humor research with positive psychology approaches. The interview concludes with Dr. Cann providing several recommendations regarding future theorizing and research on the role of humor in psychological well-being

Humor Styles, Positive Personality and Health

The research examines the relationship of sense of humor differences and positive personality qualities with perceptions of stress and well-being. Positive and negative styles of self-directed humor were assumed to have opposing relationships with perceived stress, but the relationships were predicted to be mediated through positive personality qualities. University students provided data at two points in time separated by 8 weeks. Data from time 1 was used to verify the mediation of the relationship of sense of humor with perceived stress through the positive personality qualities. A more extensive theoretical model, using longitudinal data, was tested using the sense of humor measures from time 1 and positive personality qualities at time 2 to predict perceived stress and well-being at time 2. The results from the two analyses support the proposed mediator model in which the potential health benefits of a positive humor style and the potential damage to health associated with a negative humor style are mediated through the positive personality qualities. Thus, it would appear that good humor uses can support maintaining a stable positive personality style, which has positive associations with both psychological and physical well-being

Attachment styles, conflict styles and humour styles: interrelationships and associations with relationship satisfaction

Relationships among attachment styles, conflict styles and humour styles were examined in the context of romantic relationships. Each style was assumed to be based upon underlying assumptions about self and others, so relationships among the measures were predicted. A model assuming that the relationship of attachment styles to relationship satisfaction was partially mediated by the conflict styles and humour styles was tested. Overall, the predicted relationships among the three measures were supported. Conflict styles and humour styles reflecting attitudes about others were related to the avoidance attachment style, while those reflecting attitudes about the self were related to the anxiety attachment dimension. Conflict styles and humour styles were mediators of the association of attachment style with relationship satisfaction

The relationship of core belief challenge, rumination, disclosure, and sociocultural elements to posttraumatic growth

The relationship of challenge to core beliefs, rumination, disclosure, and some sociocultural elements to posttraumatic growth (PTG) were explored. Participants were college students enrolled in psychology classes who reported having experienced a stressful event within the past 2 years and who completed measures in groups. Findings suggested that challenge to core beliefs was the main predictor of PTG, and that a very large proportion of the sample had encountered themes of PTG in their sociocultural contexts

Exploring Posttraumatic Growth in Japanese Youth

Despite a growing body of literature examining posttraumatic growth (PTG; positive change resulting from the struggle with trauma) in adult populations from various cultures, the emerging research base involving youth includes few studies exploring the construct in youth from Eastern cultures. This study examined PTG and perceived growth in the absence of trauma among Japanese youth. A total of 408 youth (215 boys, 193 girls), with a mean age of 13.38 years (SD ϭ .93), from one public junior high school in the suburbs of Tokyo were recruited. They reported whether they had experienced any trauma in the past year and completed measures assessing psychological growth using the Revised Posttraumatic Growth Inventory for Children, subjective severity, and cognitive processing using the adapted Rumination Scale. Results using one-way ANOVA showed that greater growth was reported by those who experienced trauma, and the objective severity of the adversity was reliably related to perceived growth. Chi-square tests revealed that those who did not experience adversity had more difficulty identifying growth. These results suggest that the youth-reported growth does not simply reflect normative maturation. Multiple regression analysis, using participants who reported at least one traumatic event, indicated that deliberate cognitive processing appears to play an important role in PTG. Cultural and developmental aspects of these findings, as well as implications for research and applied work are discussed