Shared Laughter The Role of Humor in Distressed Couples

Date of Award

2003

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Ryan, Kimberly

Keywords

Humor, Marriage, Couples, Similarities

Area of Concentration

Psychology

Abstract

It has been theorized that humor plays an important role in marriages with high levels of satisfaction. Humor has also been hypothesized to help in conflict resolution within couples. This study investigates the role that individual senses of humor, as well as frequencies of humor usage, play in overall marital satisfaction within distressed couples. A sample of 60 married couples were contacted via telephone and were administered the Situational Humor Response Questionnaire, the Humor in Disagreement Scale, and the Marital Adjustment Test. It was found that there were no significant differences between couples with same sense of humor and different senses of humor in the area of marital satisfaction or humor usage, with the exception of same sense of humor couples using a greater degree of negative humor. Regression analyses revealed significantly positive relations between positive types of humor and marital satisfaction. Explanations for the role of humor are offered.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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