Humor and Life Stress: Antidote to Adversity

149 Pages·1986·5.16 MB·English

by  Herbert M. Lefcourt

Humor and Life Stress
Herbert M. Lefcourt
Rod A Martin
Humor and Life Stress
Antidote to Adversity
Springer-Verlag
New York Berlin Heidelberg Tokyo
Herbert M. Lefcourt Rod A Martin
Department of Psychology Department of Psychology
University of Waterloo University of Western Ontario
Waterloo, Ontario London, Ontario
Canada N2L 3G I Canada N6A 5C2
With II Figures
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Lefcourt, Herbert M.
Humor and life stress.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Wit and humor-Therapeutic use. 2. Stress
(Psychology) I. Martin, Rod A. II. Title.
BF575.L3lA3 1986 152.4 85-27754
© 1986 by Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1986
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be translated or reproduced in any form
without written permission from Springer-Verlag, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York
10010, U.S.A.
The use of general descriptive names, trade names, trademarks, etc. in this publication,
even if the former are not especially identified, is not to be taken as a sign that such names,
as understood by the Trade Marks and Merchandise Marks Act, may accordingly be used
freely by anyone.
Typeset by Ampersand Publisher Services, Inc., Rutland, Vermont.
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN-13: 978-) -46) 2-9352-) e-ISBN-13:978-1-4612-4900-9
001: 10.107/978-1-4612-4900-9
Preface
This monograph reflects a culmination of influences. Over a decade ago,
a graduate student at the University of Waterloo, Dr. Carl Sordoni, had
worked with one of the present authors (H.L.) to develope a dissertation
concerned with humor. At that time, the literature on humor was scanty.
There was much that had been written by philosophers and scholars in
literature. But in psychology, especially empirical research in psychology,
there was not an overwhelming literature to give substance to the belief
that humor was an important element in human affairs.
Memories of that dissertation are fond. The findings were disappoint
ing, but the execution of the research provided us with much hilarity.
Though the dissertation research did not pan out as we had hoped, we
had begun to look for the influence of humor in other investigations that
we were conducting. Two published studies from that era are described in
this book, one of which grew as an off-shoot of a dissertation by Dr. Paul
Antrobus. In these studies not only did we find evidence that humor
could be predicted and understood within particular contexts, but again
we found enjoyment in doing the studies.
With the graduation of this team of researchers, and a sabbatical year
away from Waterloo for H.L., that research-thrust concerning humor
languished, especially in the wake of the greater involvement in research
concerned with the locus of control. It was not until the late 1970s that
events conspired to rekindle a keen interest in research on humor.
For one, H.L. had a "weird" experience at his father's funeral. Instead
of the expected solemn occasion, the reuniting of disparate family
members from far and wide proved to be an occasion for both mirth and
good will. This was not at all out of disrespect for the deceased, but was
almost in his honor. He had always been one ready to make light of the
grimmest circumstances, often with a joke or cliche that somehow would
fit the occasion and cause others to take the situation less seriously. The
humor displayed at this funeral was very much in character with the way
in which the deceased would have jested had he been there to take part.
Most importantly, the relatives revelled in that good humor, so that
vi Preface
everyone departed from the various ceremonies with better feelings
toward each other.
In the limousine on the way to the funeral, the members of the family
who were closest to the deceased had, by the time the car reached the
cemetery, been joking and laughing quite a bit, much to their own
surprise. When H.L. had an opportunity to question the hearse driver
about the frequency with which he might have observed such a seemingly
bizarre ride to the cemetery, he was surprised, and relieved, to discover
that this kind of humorous response to a funeral was not unfamiliar,
though it was not highly frequent either. About one in twenty funerals
seems to take the mirthful bend according to this hearse driver. He said
that he wished they were all like this; "It seems so much better this
way."
Within a year of this eventful funeral, the small book by Norman
Cousins,An Anatomy ofa n fllness, was published. As a long-time reader of
the Saturday Review, edited by Cousins, H.L. was predisposed to take
Cousins' experiences seriously. At that very time, R.M. had entered
graduate school and was looking for a subject area within which to
become immersed. Discussions between the two authors subsequently
led them to a joint quest to try to understand better what made humor so
important to human beings.
Armed with personal experiences, the preceding attempts to work with
humor, and Cousins' compelling story, we began our sortie into a
research area that was a touch alien to us and, it would seem, to many of
our professional colleagues. What we discovered, however, was that in the
decade since H.L. had experimented with humor, there had been a
monumental growth of interest in humor within such disciplines as
psychology, sociology, medicine, and nursing. The sheer number of
papers seemed to have grown exponentially since our first reviewing of
the literature in the 1960s. However, what we did not see was an
abundance of observational research from within psychologicallabora
tories. Because we were both trained as clinical psychologists and are
devoted to research as a first priority, our own penchant was to create
individual difference measures as a beginning and to try to predict what
types of persons, in what conditions, were most apt to use humor
effectively in their daily encounters.
Our perspective led us to use laboratory analogs to observe individuals
closely as they tried to deal with quasi-stresses or to question persons to
see how they dealt with the actual stresses in their lives. We have relied
upon the real experiences of our subjects, invented experiences, and some
of the most absurd contrived experiences that we could conjure up. In
this process we owe much thanks to all of those subjects who have
participated in our studies. It is notable that many subjects reported
enjoying those studies, and, once again, we as experimenters found the
conductance of humor research exciting and, at times, hilarious. We will
Preface vii
not quickly forget the time when our whole research team gathered
together to create a monologue to accompany a stressful film that we
hoped would induce mirth instead of anxiety. We did not succeed as far
as our subjects were concerned, but we experienced one of those rare
occasions when tears came rolling from our eyes uncontrollably. The
hilarity seemed almost wild.
Our indebtedness to the research team goes without saying. We express
our appreciation to Drs. Sandra Adams, Philip Miller, and Anne Vagi.
Most especially, we owe so much to Wendy Saleh who, as H.L.'s research
assistant, performed with professionalism and maturity. In addition, we
owe much to the support of two foundations for the final production of
this book. The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of
Canada has supported each of the authors with research grants,
fellowships, and scholarships. The continued support of this excellent
agency has been indispensible for the conduct of research. The Leave
Fellowship from that agency allowed H.L. to accept the support of a
second foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation in Bellagio, Italy, at the
Villa Serbelloni where several of these chapters were written.
Finally, there have been many individuals at the University of
Waterloo who have played brief but essential roles: Barbara Lefcourt,
whose continuous editing has helped to make our writing intelligible;
Carol Sordoni, Paul Tower, Dan Cohen, Rob Shepherd, Carol Fick, Lisa
Hicks, and Debbie Sherk, who each contributed to the empirical base
that comprises this volume; and Deborah White and Jean Zadilsky, who
with cheerfulness and cooperation typed the whole book.
Contents
Chapter 1 Theoretical Approaches to the Study of the Sense
of Humor ....................................... 1
Arousal Theories ...................................... 4
Incongruity Theories .................................. 9
Superiority Theories ................................... 11
Conclusion ........................................... 13
Chapter 2 Questionnaire Approaches to the Assessment of
the Sense of Humor ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
The Sense of Humor Questionnaire ..................... 18
The Situational Humor Response Questionnaire ......... 21
The Coping Humor Scale .............................. 28
Conclusion ........................................... 29
Chapter 3 Validational Studies of the Sense of Humor
Questionnaires .................................. 31
Validity Study I ....................................... 31
Validity Study 2 ....................................... 35
Validity Study 3 ....................................... 39
Validity Study 4 ....................................... 42
Validity Study 5 ....................................... 44
General Discussion ................................... 46
Chapter 4 Sense of Humor as a Moderator of Life Stress ...... 48
Life Stress ............................................ 49
Humor as a Stress Moderator .......................... 50
Study I ............................................... 52
Study 2 ............................................... 57
Study 3 ............................................... 59
Conclusions .......................................... 61
x Contents
Chapter 5 Experimental Studies of Humor in a Stressful
Laboratory Situation ............................. 64
Study I ............................................... 67
Study 2 ............................................... 74
General Discussion ................................... 78
Chapter 6 Humor and the Sense of Mastery.. ... . ... .... .... . 80
Study I ............................................... 82
Study 2 ............................................... 88
Study 3 ............................................... 95
Additional Observations ............................... 97
Conclusions .......................................... 98
Chapter 7 Sense of Humor and the Coping Process
in Marriage ..................................... 100
Method and Procedure ................................ 102
Results ............................................... 104
Discussion ........................................... 107
Chapter 8 Sense of Humor and Coping With
Physical Disability ............................... 110
Method and Procedure ................................ 111
Results ............................................... 116
Discussion ........................................... 119
Chapter 9 An Overview .................................... 123
References 127
Author Index 137
Subject Index 140
1
Theoretical Approaches to the
Study of the Sense of Humor
One of the dilemmas faced by psychological researchers is the fact that
many of the most ordinary and familiar-and therefore most funda
mental-aspects of human experience and behavior are the most difficult
to define, isolate, and examine scientifically. Humor, smiling, and
laughter represent a good example of such ubiquitous but "slippery"
phenomena.
Scarcely a day goes by in which most of us do not find something to
laugh and joke about. In fact, from the perspective of the hypothetical
observer from outer space surely one of the most striking features of the
human race would be the frequency with which we engage in the bizarre
behavior of laughter. From the cocktail party and the cafeteria to the
most auspicious committee rooms and council chambers, laughter is a
prominent activity whenever groups of people gather. And a bizarre
behavior it is, when we stop to think about it: the strange facial grimaces
and contortions; the baring of teeth; the gutteral vocalizations; the
changes in respiration, heart rate, and endocrine flow; the throwing back
of the head, flailing of arms, and spastic body movements. And yet,
despite, or perhaps because of, the ubiquity of these phenomena, very
little progress has been made, at least until recently, in our scientific
understanding of them.
Why do we laugh? What is the purpose of humor in the human species?
A central thesis of this book is that humor and laughter represent an
important mechanism for coping with many of the psychosocial stressors
that humans encounter in their daily lives. Thus, it is our contention that
humor and laughter play an important role in the maintenance of both
psychological and physiological health and well-being in the face of
stress.
This is certainly not a very original idea. In fact, it is one that has long
enjoyed widespread support, both among the lay public and among
professionals in the fields of psychology and medicine. An ancient
biblical maxim states that "a merry heart doeth good like a medicine"
(Proverbs 17:22).
2 1. Theoretical Approaches to the Study of the Sense of Humor
Goldstein (1982) has also noted that the idea that laughter is
therapeutic has a long and time-honored history. Citing a number of
physicians and philosophers from the 13th through the 19th centuries,
Goldstein presented a series of priceless testimonials to the value of
humor for health. As an example, Gottlieb Hufeland, a 19th-century
German professor, is quoted as saying:
Laughter is one of the most important helps to digestion with which we are
acquainted; the custom in vogue among our ancestors, of exciting it by jesters and
buffoons, was founded on true medical principles. Cheerful and joyous com
panions are invaluable at meals. Obtain such, if possible, for the nourishment
received amid mirth and jollity is productive of light and healthy blood (p. 22).
In this century, there has been no lack of continuing testimonials. In
his book Laughter and Health, Walsh (1928), a medical professor at
Fordham University, stated:
There is nothing that makes us forget so completely about functions of the body
that we may have been solicitous over as good hearty laughter. It dissipates the
intense concentration of attention on some bodily function, which so often proves
to be the principal cause of the disturbance in that function. All the varied 'cures'
that have cured for a while, and then would not cure anything, demonstrate that
the state of mind is the most important thing in the world for a great many
patients. (p. 143)
Cousins' (1979) best-selling account of his recovery from a serious
collagen disease (discussed in Chapter 4) through massive doses of
laughter and Vitamin C has provided additional anecdotal evidence of
the salutary effects of humor and laughter.
Until recently, however, as with research on humor generally, this
popular notion has received very little empirical investigation. Our
purpose in this book is to bring together some of the current theoretical
and research literature that bears on the hypothesized therapeutic effects
of humor and to report the results of some of our empirical investigations
in this area.
To begin our discussion, in this chapter we briefly review some of the
major theories of humor and examine the contribution of each to an
understanding of the stress-moderating effects of humor. Since the days
of ancient Greece, a wide variety of thinkers and philosophers have
turned their attention to the phenomena of humor and laughter, and a
plethora of opinions and theories have been proposed. None of these
theories encompasses all aspects of the phenomena, and many of them
contradict one another at various points. No doubt a good part of the
reason for this diversity lies in the complexity and ambiguity of the
subject under investigation.
This complexity is apparent from the outset when we ask the question:
What is the fundamental relationship between humor and laughter? As
many have pointed out, laughter can occur in the absence of humor, and