Relations of Humor with Perceptions of Stress

Abstract

Humor has cognitive, emotional, and behavioral components but may be conceptualized as a multidimensional personality trait, comprised of both negative and positive dimensions and styles. Sense of humor may influence other evaluations of life, including perception of stress. Analysis of responses from 51 community adults and 131 undergraduates in psychology, nonrepresentative, random samples, indicated that styles of humor were correlated with self-perception of perceived stress; the largest correlations account for less than 50% of the common variance. Results are discussed in terms of their theoretical links to coping literature, potential for therapeutic interventions, and areas for research.