Abstract
Empirical studies on humor among the elderly are lacking. Based on the model of sense of humor by Paul McGhee, different age groups are compared (n=979) in the present study. Data suggest that playfulness and sense of humor are stable across different age groups (in a cross-sectional design) but that elderly participants were highest in positive mood. However, they also indicated that they laughed less and less easily than younger participants. Among the elderly, those who frequently (more than once a week) meet with friends and colleagues yielded higher expressions in different aspects of the sense of humor than those who meet friends and colleagues less often. Generally, humor was positively associated with personal and national well-being. However, among those participants older than 60 years of age, national well-being (i.e., satisfaction with the government, safety, or economics in the country) was negatively related to humor. Results are discussed together with a general outlook on the use of humor interventions for increasing the well-being and quality of life of elderly people.
Zusammenfassung
Es fehlt an empirischen Studien, die sich mit dem Humor älterer Menschen beschäftigen. Auf der Basis von Paul McGhees Modell zum Sinn für Humor wurden in der vorliegenden Untersuchung Menschen (n=979) verschiedener Altersgruppen in ihrem Sinn für Humor verglichen. Die (Querschnitts-)Daten legen nahe, dass eine spielerische Haltung („playfulness“) und der Sinn für Humor über verschiedene Altersgruppen hinweg stabil bleiben. Die ältesten TeilnehmerInnen erzielten die höchsten Werte in positiver Stimmung, sie gaben allerdings auch an, dass sie weniger und weniger leicht lachen als Jüngere. Unter den älteren TeilnehmerInnen erzielten jene Personen, die sich häufig (mehr als einmal pro Woche) mit Freunden treffen, höhere Werte in verschiedenen Aspekten des Sinns für Humor als jene, die sich weniger häufig mit Freunden treffen. Im Allgemeinen war Humor positiv mit persönlichem und nationalem Wohlbefinden korreliert, in der Gruppe der über 60-Jährigen zeigten sich allerdings negative Zusammenhänge mit dem nationalen Wohlbefinden (das betrifft beispielsweise die Zufriedenheit mit der Regierung, Fragen der Sicherheit oder der wirtschaftlichen Situation des Landes). Die Ergebnisse werden diskutiert im Zusammenhang mit den Möglichkeiten von Humorinterventionen, um Lebenszufriedenheit und Lebensqualität älterer Menschen zu steigern.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Assessed via the standard form of the revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ-R).
Controlling for all variables simultaneously in one analysis also did not change the coefficients strongly.
References
Craik KH, Ware AP (2007) Humor and personality in everyday life. In: Ruch W (ed) The sense of humor: explorations of a personality characteristic. Mouton deGruyter, Berlin, pp 63–94
Craik KH, Lampert M, Nelson AJ (1996) Sense of humor and styles of everyday humorous conduct. Humor 9:273–302
Cummins RA, Eckersley R, Pallant J et al (2003) Developing a national index of subjective wellbeing: the Australian Unity Wellbeing Index. Soc Indic Res 64:159–190
Martin RA, Puhlik-Doris P, Larsen G et al (2003) Individual differences in uses of humor and their relation to psychological well-being: development of the humor styles questionnaire. J Res Pers 37:48–75
McGhee P (1996) Health, healing and the amuse system: humor as survival training. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, IA
Renn D, Pfaffenberger N, Platter M et al (2009) International Well-being Index: the Austrian version. Soc Indic Res 90:243–256
Ruch W (ed) (2007) The sense of humor: explorations of a personality characteristic. Mouton deGruyter, Berlin
Ruch W (2008) Psychology of humor. In: Raskin V (ed) A primer of humor. Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin, pp 17–100
Ruch W, Carrell A (1998) Trait cheerfulness and the sense of humor. Pers Indiv Differ 24:551–558
Ruch W, Köhler G (2007) A temperament approach to humor. In: Ruch W (ed) The sense of humor: explorations of a personality characteristic. Mouton DeGruyter, Berlin, pp 203–230
Ruch W, Köhler G, van Thriel C (1996) Assessing the “humorous temperament”: construction of the facet and standard trait forms of the State-Trait-Cheerfulness-Inventory – STCI. Humor 9:303–339
Ruch W, Proyer RT, Müller L (2009) The German version of the SHS. Unpublished manuscript
Ruch W, Proyer RT, Weber (2010) Humor as a character strength among the elderly: theoretical considerations. Z Gerontol Geriatr 1:(this issue)
Ruch W, Proyer RT, Weber M (2010) Humor as a character strength: empirical findings on age-related changes and its contribution to satisfaction with life. Z Gerontol Geriatr 1:(this issue)
Sassenrath S (2001) Humor und Lachen als Stressbewältigungsstrategie [Humor and laughter as a way of coping with stress]. University of Vienna, Unpublished Masters thesis
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to Fabian Gander and Tobias Wyss for their assistance in data collection.
Conflict of interest
The corresponding author states that there are no conflicts of interest.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Proyer, R., Ruch, W. & Müller, L. Sense of humor among the elderly. Z Gerontol Geriat 43, 19–24 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00391-009-0082-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00391-009-0082-0