Humor Styles as Moderators in the Relationship Between Perceived Stress and Physical Health
This study examined the moderating role of four humor styles, namely, self-enhancing, affiliative, self-defeating, and aggressive humor, in the relationship between perceived stress and physical health. The sample comprised 954 undergraduate students of both genders between the ages of 18 and 43 yea...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2017-06-01
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| Series: | SAGE Open |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244017711485 |
| _version_ | 1811214467811246080 |
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| author | Kirsten Richards Gert Kruger |
| author_facet | Kirsten Richards Gert Kruger |
| author_sort | Kirsten Richards |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study examined the moderating role of four humor styles, namely, self-enhancing, affiliative, self-defeating, and aggressive humor, in the relationship between perceived stress and physical health. The sample comprised 954 undergraduate students of both genders between the ages of 18 and 43 years ( M = 20 years) from various ethnic backgrounds (68.2% Black African, 19.1% White, 7.3% Colored, and 5.3% Indian). Three self-report measures were administered to assess humor styles, perceived stress, and physical health. Results showed that the self-defeating humor style moderated the relationship between stress and physical health with higher use of this humor style associated with an increase in reported physical health symptoms. The results highlight the role of a self-directed, detrimental humor style in the deterioration of physical health during the perceived experience of stress, thus indicating that one’s habitual way of using humor could influence whether physical health outcomes are positive or negative. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T06:04:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-88e734c7391647b6a5d92799317e82d0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2158-2440 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T06:04:02Z |
| publishDate | 2017-06-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | SAGE Open |
| spelling | doaj.art-88e734c7391647b6a5d92799317e82d02022-12-22T03:44:56ZengSAGE PublishingSAGE Open2158-24402017-06-01710.1177/2158244017711485Humor Styles as Moderators in the Relationship Between Perceived Stress and Physical HealthKirsten Richards0Gert Kruger1University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South AfricaUniversity of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South AfricaThis study examined the moderating role of four humor styles, namely, self-enhancing, affiliative, self-defeating, and aggressive humor, in the relationship between perceived stress and physical health. The sample comprised 954 undergraduate students of both genders between the ages of 18 and 43 years ( M = 20 years) from various ethnic backgrounds (68.2% Black African, 19.1% White, 7.3% Colored, and 5.3% Indian). Three self-report measures were administered to assess humor styles, perceived stress, and physical health. Results showed that the self-defeating humor style moderated the relationship between stress and physical health with higher use of this humor style associated with an increase in reported physical health symptoms. The results highlight the role of a self-directed, detrimental humor style in the deterioration of physical health during the perceived experience of stress, thus indicating that one’s habitual way of using humor could influence whether physical health outcomes are positive or negative.https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244017711485 |
| spellingShingle | Kirsten Richards Gert Kruger Humor Styles as Moderators in the Relationship Between Perceived Stress and Physical Health SAGE Open |
| title | Humor Styles as Moderators in the Relationship Between Perceived Stress and Physical Health |
| title_full | Humor Styles as Moderators in the Relationship Between Perceived Stress and Physical Health |
| title_fullStr | Humor Styles as Moderators in the Relationship Between Perceived Stress and Physical Health |
| title_full_unstemmed | Humor Styles as Moderators in the Relationship Between Perceived Stress and Physical Health |
| title_short | Humor Styles as Moderators in the Relationship Between Perceived Stress and Physical Health |
| title_sort | humor styles as moderators in the relationship between perceived stress and physical health |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244017711485 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kirstenrichards humorstylesasmoderatorsintherelationshipbetweenperceivedstressandphysicalhealth AT gertkruger humorstylesasmoderatorsintherelationshipbetweenperceivedstressandphysicalhealth |