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Fostering Humour

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Positive Psychology Interventions in Practice

Abstract

Research on humour and humour trainings/interventions has preceded the formal foundation of positive psychology. Yet, humour in its benevolent forms [as also operationalised as one of the 24 character strengths in Peterson and Seligman’s (2004) classification fits well into the realm of positive psychology and its interventions. The chapter describes current humour interventions stemming from both traditions, humour research and positive psychology. Most interventions have been designed for groups and differ in whether they are delivered in a standardised way (i.e., manuals) or more ad hoc (i.e., clinic clown interventions). Moreover, recent advances have shown the benefits of short-term online self-administered interventions. Yet, future efforts need to concentrate on the concept of humour and its measurement, as well as the development of theoretically based interventions and their evaluation of short- and long-term benefits.

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Abbreviations

7HHP:

7 Humor Habits Program

BENCOR:

Benevolent and Corrective Humor

CLEM-29:

29 Clown Emotion List

FACS:

Facial Action Coding System

HBQD:

Humorous Behavior Q-Sort-Deck

HSQ:

Humor Styles Questionnaire

SHS:

Sense of Humor Scale

STCI:

State-Trait-Cheerfulness Inventory

VIA-IS:

Values in Action—Inventory of Strengths

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Acknowledgements

The preparation of this chapter was facilitated by the support of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research LIVES—Overcoming Vulnerability: Life Course Perspectives, which is financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation.

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  1. Abteilung für Persönlichkeitspsychologie und Diagnostik, Psychologisches Institut, Binzmühlestrasse 14/7, 8050, Zürich, Switzerland

    Willibald Ruch & Jennifer Hofmann

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  1. Willibald Ruch
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  2. Jennifer Hofmann
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Correspondence to Willibald Ruch .

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  1. Positive Psychology Research Centre Ltd, Guernsey, United Kingdom

    Carmel Proctor

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Ruch, W., Hofmann, J. (2017). Fostering Humour. In: Proctor, C. (eds) Positive Psychology Interventions in Practice. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51787-2_5

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