The Relation of Humor to Depression and Personality

Abstract

The present study focused on an assessment of humor, depression, and personality. 38 male and 91 female college students responded to five self-report questionnaires, i.e., Martin and Lefcourt's Situational Humor Response Questionnaire and Coping Humor Scale, Svebak's Sense of Humor Questionnaire, Zimmerman's Inventory to Diagnose Depression, and the Eysenck Personality Inventory. Analysis indicated that individuals who scored lower on the depression scale tended to score higher on the Coping Humor Scale, Extraversion, and Neuroticism. Also, individuals scoring higher on the humor scales tended to score higher on Extraversion and Emotional Stability. These personality factors appear to be strongly related to the sense of humor construct and depression. Perhaps the personality factors of introversion and neuroticism may be employed to identify a predisposition toward depression.