Relationships between humor style patterns and psychological well-being

Background: This study aimed at detecting clusters of specific combinations of humor styles, as measured by the Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ), and at identifying eventual association of such combinations with indicators of psychological well-being. Methods: The participants in the present cross-sectional study were 458 Italian female high school students from central Italy (ages ranged from 13 to 18 years). The HSQ was employed to assess different styles of humor according to a multidimensional approach. The Ryff's Psychological Well-Being Scales (RPWB) was used to evaluate psychological well-being by six intercorrelated dimensions; in addition, the Self-Esteem Questionnaire (SEQ), and the General Self-Efficacy (GSE) were applied. A cluster analysis, based on the scores reported on the HSQ, as well as the differences between group means of the well-being indicators were computed. Findings: The two emerged groups (high and low in positive humor styles) differed in group means for all dimensions of RPWB, SEQ, and GSE. Discussion: The implementation of specific training in the effective use of humor may contribute to enriching programs that inspire psychological and psychotherapeutic well-being.