Playfulness over the lifespan and its relation to happiness: Results from an online survey

Background: Playfulness is an understudied topic in adults and particularly among the elderly. There is no large study to date on age-related changes in playfulness across the lifespan, nor have relations with different indicators of well-being been investigated in much detail as yet. Participants and methods: In total, 4100adults completed online self-ratings on their playfulness, happiness and Seligman's three orientations to happiness (a pleasurable, engaged and meaningfully fulfilled life). Results: In a cross-sectional design, playfulness was stable across the lifespan; variations in the mean scores were relatively small (half a standard deviation). Yet participants < 40years yielded the comparatively lowest scores. There were no gender differences. Playfulness was best predicted by the scale assessing a pleasurable life and was positively related to happiness. Conclusion: Playfulness seems to be of relevance in all age groups and displays robust relations with different indicators of well-being

A lifetime of fear of being laughed at: An aged perspective

This paper reviews recent literature on gelotophobia (i.e., the fear of being laughed at) with an emphasis on age-specific aspects. Research with two instruments, the GELOPH and PhoPhiKat questionnaires, is presented with special attention being given to sociodemographic correlates and differences in intelligence, character strengths, personality, emotion, and humor. Quite consistently gelotophobes tend to misread positively motivated smiling and laughter (e.g. in social interactions, photographs or auditorily presented) and have lower values in many, but not all, components of humor. They have a low propensity to joy and a disposition to experience shame and fear. More generally they tend to describe themselves as being introverted and neurotic, and they underestimate their own potential while not actually being less capable. Furthermore, new data are presented suggesting that age-related vulnerabilities may be additional sources of ridicule making gelotophobia more of a problem for the elderly. Finally, the prevalence of this fear over the lifespan and potential cohort effects are discussed. It is concluded that more research into this fear and its adverse impact on social interactions, even humorous ones, of the elderly is neede

Humor as a character strength among the elderly: Theoretical considerations

Positive psychology is a scientific approach within psychology that focuses on research on what is best in people. Within this framework, humor is understood as a character strength. The article gives a brief overview on positive psychology and implications for aging (positive aging, successful aging) with an emphasis on the contribution of humor. Humor as a strength of character and its measurement by various approaches are discussed. It is argued that there is a lack of empirical data about humor in the elderly. Potential benefits of considering humor in research but also in practice are discusse

Playfulness over the lifespan and its relation to happiness : Results from an online survey

BACKGROUND: Playfulness is an understudied topic in adults and particularly among the elderly. There is no large study to date on age-related changes in playfulness across the lifespan, nor have relations with different indicators of well-being been investigated in much detail as yet. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: In total, 4100 adults completed online self-ratings on their playfulness, happiness and Seligman’s three orientations to happiness (a pleasurable, engaged and meaningfully fulfilled life). RESULTS: In a cross-sectional design, playfulness was stable across the lifespan; variations in the mean scores were relatively small (half a standard deviation). Yet participants < 40 years yielded the comparatively lowest scores. There were no gender differences. Playfulness was best predicted by the scale assessing a pleasurable life and was positively related to happiness. CONCLUSION: Playfulness seems to be of relevance in all age groups and displays robust relations with different indicators of well-being. HINTERGRUND: Verspieltheit im Erwachsenenalter und besonders im höheren Alter ist ein wenig erforschtes Merkmal. Es gibt bislang keine große Studie zu altersspezifischen Veränderungen. Beziehungen zu Indikatoren des Wohlbefindens wurden ebenfalls noch nicht ausführlich untersucht. MATERIAL UND METHODEN: In einer Online-Studie bearbeiteten 4100 Erwachsene Maße zu Verspieltheit, Wohlbefinden und Seligmans Orientierungen zum Wohlbefinden (das vergnügliche, engagierte und sinnerfüllte Leben). ERGEBNISSE: In einem Querschnittdesign war die Verspieltheit über die Lebensspanne hinweg stabil verteilt; die Mittelwerte wiesen nur geringe Variation auf (eine halbe Standardabweichung). Personen < 40 Jahre wiesen aber die vergleichsweise niedrigsten Werte auf. Es gab keine Geschlechtsunterschiede. Die Skala zum vergnüglichen Leben hat sich als bester Prädiktor für Verspieltheit erwiesen; es fanden sich positive Beziehungen zum Wohlbefinden. SCHLUSSFOLGERUNG: Verspieltheit scheint in allen Altersgruppen von Bedeutung zu sein und weist robuste Beziehungen zum Wohlbefinden auf

A lifetime of fear of being laughed at. An aged perspective

This paper reviews recent literature on gelotophobia (i.e., the fear of being laughed at) with an emphasis on age-specific aspects. Research with two instruments, the GELOPH and PhoPhiKat questionnaires, is presented with special attention being given to sociodemographic correlates and differences in intelligence, character strengths, personality, emotion, and humor. Quite consistently gelotophobes tend to misread positively motivated smiling and laughter (e.g. in social interactions, photographs or auditorily presented) and have lower values in many, but not all, components of humor. They have a low propensity to joy and a disposition to experience shame and fear. More generally they tend to describe themselves as being introverted and neurotic, and they underestimate their own potential while not actually being less capable. Furthermore, new data are presented suggesting that age-related vulnerabilities may be additional sources of ridicule making gelotophobia more of a problem for the elderly. Finally, the prevalence of this fear over the lifespan and potential cohort effects are discussed. It is concluded that more research into this fear and its adverse impact on social interactions, even humorous ones, of the elderly is needed. Zusammenfassung: Der vorliegende Artikel bietet, mit dem Hauptaugenmerk auf altersspezifische Aspekte, einen Überblick über die aktuelle Literatur zur Gelotophobie (der Angst vor dem Ausgelachtwerden). Vorgestellt werden Studien, die mit den Fragebögen GELOPHund PhoPhiKat durchgeführt wurden. Dabei wird soziodemographischen Korrelaten sowie Unterschieden hinsichtlich Intelligenz, Charakterstärken, Persönlichkeit, Emotionen und Humor besondere Aufmerksamkeit gewidmet. Ein konsistenter Befund ist, dass Gelotophobiker dazu neigen, positiv motiviertes Lächeln und Lachen (in sozialen Interaktionen, auf Fotos oder akustisch präsentiert) fehlerhaft zu interpretieren. Sie schneiden in vielen, aber nicht allen, Komponenten des Humors mit niedrigeren Werten ab. Darüber hinaus neigen sie wenig zu Freude und zeigen eine Disposition, Scham und Angst zu erleben. Allgemein beschreiben sie sich als introvertiert und neurotisch und unterschätzen ihr eigenes Potenzial, auch wenn sie tatsächlich nicht weniger leisten können als Nichtgelotophobiker. Weiter werden neue Daten vorgestellt, die zeigen, dass altersspezifische Vulnerabilitäten zusätzliche Quellen dafür sein können, ausgelacht zu werden. Das macht Gelotophobie zu einem größeren Problem unter älteren Menschen. Zuletzt werden auch die Prävalenz der Gelotophobie über die Lebensspanne hinweg sowie mögliche Kohorteneffekte diskutiert. Es wird die Schlussfolgerung gezogen, dass es mehr Studien bedarf, die sich dieser Angst und ihren negativen Auswirkungen auf soziale Interaktionen, gerade auch humorbezogene, widmen

A psycho-linguistic approach for studying adult playfulness: a replication and extension toward relations with humor

This study addresses the basic structure of playfulness in adults from a psy- cho-lexical approach and its relationship with the sense of humor. Using items derived from a corpus analysis of written accounts in the German language, five factors were derived (N = 195); that is, (a) cheerful-engaged; (b) whimsical; (c) creative-loving; (d) intellectual; and (e) impulsive. Their contents strongly overlap in comparison with an earlier study using this approach. However, the correlation of the intellectual component with two current measures of adult playfulness was low, and the impulsive component was not correlated with these measures. The question arises as to whether these aspects exist only as components in the implicit psychological and linguistic theories. The sense of humor was most strongly related with the cheerful-engaged factor while some “humor skills” were particularly related to other factors; for example, finding humor under stress with the intellectual component. This study helps toward a better understanding of the basic structure of playfulness in adults

Assessing dispositions towards ridicule and being laughed at: Development and initial validation of the Turkish PhoPhiKat-45

How people deal with humor and laughter is culturally constructed within a society but each member may differ in their attitudes. Depending upon this, this study aimed to test the factor structure of PhoPhiKat-45 (Ruch and Proyer Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 22, 183–212, 2009a) which is a subjective measurement designed to assess three dispositions toward laughter and ridicule; gelotophobia (fear of being laughed at), gelotophilia (joy of being laughed at), and katagelasticism (joy of laughing at others), taking samples from two universities in Turkey (N = 628; female = 470). We further examined the relationships between humor styles, self-esteem, and psychological symptomatology with the PhoPhiKat-45. Confirmatory factor analyses replicated the original 3-factor model and internal consistencies of derived subscales were satisfactory (.76 for gelotophobia, .79 for gelotophilia, .66 for katagelasticism). For the nomological validity, bivariate correlations and regression analyses showed that gelotophobia was associated with low self-esteem, greater levels of psychological distress (mainly concerning interpersonal relations), and social and coping functions of humor. Gelotophilia was associated with all forms of humor, had no relation to self-esteem or any kind of psychological distress. Katagelasticism (i.e., enjoying laughing at others) was associated with all dimensions of psychological distress and only with an aggressive style of humor. In conclusion, the findings showed that the Turkish PhoPhiKat-43 scale has a satisfactory construct validity and reliability instrument to assess the dispositions toward laughter and ridicule. © 2017 Springer Science+Business Media, LL

Sense of humor among the elderly: Findings using the German version of the SHS

Empirical studies on humor among the elderly are lacking. Based on the model of sense of humor by Paul McGhee, different age groups are compared (n=979) in the present study. Data suggest that playfulness and sense of humor are stable across different age groups (in a cross-sectional design) but that elderly participants were highest in positive mood. However, they also indicated that they laughed less and less easily than younger participants. Among the elderly, those who frequently (more than once a week) meet with friends and colleagues yielded higher expressions in different aspects of the sense of humor than those who meet friends and colleagues less often. Generally, humor was positively associated with personal and national well-being. However, among those participants older than 60 years of age, national well-being (i.e., satisfaction with the government, safety, or economics in the country) was negatively related to humor. Results are discussed together with a general outlook on the use of humor interventions for increasing the well-being and quality of life of elderly people

The subjective assessment of the fear of being laughed at(gelotophobia): French adaptation of the GELOPH <15> questionnaire

This paper describes the adaptation of the French version of the GELOPH, a short questionnaire (15 items) that measures the fear of being laughed at (gelotophobia). The first empirical studies revealed that gelotophobia is a valid and useful new concept that should be interpreted as an individual differences phenomenon within the range of normality. Prior studies suggested that the GELOPH is reliable, and showed a one-dimensional factor solution. In order to test psychometric properties of the French version, N = 218 participants from the French part of Switzerland and N = 245 participants from Quebec (French Canada) took the test. One item that yielded a particularly high endorsement pertained to the interpretation of others' laughter as being laughter at oneself (Switzerland); another item with the same result reflected how unease experienced while dancing is due to the conviction that one is being assessed negatively by others (Quebec). The fear of being laughed at was independent of the participants' age, sex or marital status. Additionally, the mean gelotophobia scores in the French Canadian and Swiss samples did not differ from each other. The French version of the GELOPH provides a useful and reliable instrument for the subjective assessment of gelotophobia in French-speaking countries

Humor als Charakterstärke bei älteren Menschen

Background. Positive psychology studies what is best in people. In their classification of strengths and virtues, Peterson and Seligman [11] assign humor to the virtue of transcendence. Thus far, there is no specific study that deals with age-related changes in humor (as a strength of character) across a lifespan and its relation to well-being in the elderly. Participants and methods. A total of n=42,964 participants completed an online questionnaire on humor as a strength of character. Participants also completed the Satisfaction with Life Scale and the Orientations to Happiness Scale.Results. In a cross-sectional design, the scores for humor decreased until the age of 50. Men between 51 and 62 years had higher scores; there was a trend for women older than 70 to score higher (but this was not statistically significant). Humor was robustly positively correlated with life satisfaction, as well with a pleasurable and an engaged life, but was lowest with a meaningful life. The oldest participants had the lowest (yet still meaningful) correlation coefficients (with the exception of a meaningful life).Conclusion. The study contributes to the understanding of humor across the lifespan and underlines the importance of studies among the elderly within a framework of positive psychology