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Humor Styles and Beyond: the Role of Individual Differences in Humor for Psychosocial Well-Being and the Importance of Construct Validity

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Humor Styles and Beyond: the Role of Individual Differences in Humor for Psychosocial Well-Being and the Importance of Construct Validity Zurich Open Repository and Archive University of Zurich Main Library Strickhofstrasse 39 CH-8057 Zurich www.zora.uzh.ch Year: 2017 Humor styles and beyond: the role of individual differences in humor for psychosocial well-being and the importance of construct validity Heintz, Sonja Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-152461 Dissertation Published Version Originally published at: Heintz, Sonja. Humor styles and beyond: the role of individual differences in humor for psychosocial well-being and the importance of construct validity. 2017, University of Zurich, Faculty of Arts. Humor Styles and Beyond: The Role of Individual Differences in Humor for Psychosocial Well-Being and the Importance of Construct Validity Thesis (cumulative thesis) presented to the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of the University of Zurich for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Sonja Heintz Accepted in the spring semester 2017 on the recommendation of the doctoral committee: Prof. Dr. Willibald Ruch (main supervisor) Prof. Dr. Hugo Carretero Dios Zurich, 2018 ABSTRACT Abstract The present dissertation comprises four studies that employ a multi-method approach to investigate the construct validity of the scales of the Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ; Martin et al., 2003): Affiliative, self-enhancing, aggressive, and self-defeating. All scales except for self-defeating were found to exhibit self-other agreement and to converge with the daily humor behaviors entailed in them. Furthermore, the relevance of the four humor styles for psychosocial well-being was investigated in self- and other-reports, daily diaries, and mixed-method investigations with cognitive interviews, which include content ratings, word analyses, and the coding of facial expressions. The affiliative and self-enhancing scales and the humor entailed in them were found to relate positively to psychosocial well-being. By contrast, the self-defeating scale was found to be a combination of general negativity (like low self-esteem) and a positive humor behavior (self- directed humor). Overall, the present dissertation suggests that the self-defeating HSQ scale seems to have limited construct validity, which necessitates changes in the construct and/or the measurement. In conclusion, it is necessary to revise the HSQ or to develop other psychometrically sound humor measurements to be able to expand our knowledge on the important topic of humor and well-being. I ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Zusammenfassung Die vorliegende Doktorarbeit umfasst vier Studien, die einen multimethodalen Ansatz verwenden um die Konstruktvalidität des Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ; Martin et al., 2003) zu untersuchen: Anschlusssuchend, selbsterhöhend, aggressiv und selbstherabsetzend. Alle Skalen ausser der selbstherabsetzenden zeigten Übereinstimmung zwischen Selbst- und Fremdbericht und zeigten Konvergenz mit den in ihnen enthaltenen alltäglichen Humorverhaltensweisen. Zudem wurde die Relevanz der vier Humorstile für psychosoziales Wohlbefinden untersucht, sowohl im Selbst- und Fremdbericht, in Tagebüchern und in einem Mixed-Method-Ansatz mit kognitiven Interviews, der Inhalts- und Wortanalysen sowie die Kodierung der Mimik beinhaltet. Die anschlusssuchenden und selbsterhöhenden Skalen und der in ihnen enthaltene Humor hingen positiv mit psychosozialem Wohlbefinden zusammen. Die selbstherabsetzende Skala zeigte sich hingegen als eine Kombination aus allgemeiner Negativität (wie niedriges Selbstwertgefühl) und einem positiven Humorverhalten (selbstbezogener Humor). Insgesamt legt die vorliegende Doktorarbeit nahe, dass die selbstherabsetzende HSQ-Skala über eine eingeschränkte Konstruktvalidität zu verfügen scheint und daher Anpassungen im Konstrukt und/oder der Messung erforderlich sind. Somit ist festzustellen, dass der HSQ einer Überarbeitung bedarf oder dass andere psychometrisch fundierte Messverfahren für Humor entwickelt werden müssen, um unser Wissen zu Humor und Wohlbefinden zu erweitern. II ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Acknowledgments I would like to thank everyone who supported me personally and professionally. Without your help, my studies and this dissertation would not have been possible. Although I cannot list everyone who supported me throughout the years, I would like to express my gratitude to several people who played a major role in this process. I would like to thank Willibald Ruch, who has given me the chance to be a part of his section at the University of Zurich. His continuous knowledgeable and patient support greatly helped me to conduct my research and to find my way into academia. Also the many opportunities he offered enabled me to participate and to gain insights in many interesting projects besides my dissertation. His valuable inputs, skilled leadership, and humorous world-view enhanced the quality of the present work and made the academic work truly fulfilling. I would like to thank my co-workers, who provided a relaxed and cheerful, but also focused and productive working atmosphere, notably Jenny Hofmann, René Proyer, Tracey Platt, Doris Baumann, Fabian Gander, Lisa Wagner, Anne Berthold, and Alexander Stahlmann. I would also like to thank colleagues and collaborators for their help with my research and for the fruitful exchange of ideas, especially Hugo Carretero Dios, who provided profound feedback and who supported and encouraged me throughout my dissertation, as well as Jessica Milner Davis, with whom I’ve been having insightful exchanges since the Humor Summer School in 2012. Last but not least, I would like to express my deepest thanks and gratitude to my family and friends who always supported me unconditionally. Especially my mother Elke and my grandparents Maria and Georg have always been there for me when I needed them, and they have always encouraged and stood by me to the fullest. Without them, none of this would have been possible. (Vielen Dank für alles!) III TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................... I Zusammenfassung ............................................................................................................................. II Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................... III Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ IV List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. VII List of Figures .................................................................................................................................. IX GENERAL INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 1 Individual Differences in the Sense of Humor ............................................................................. 1 Humor Styles ................................................................................................................................ 2 Martin et al.’s Humor Styles ........................................................................................................ 6 Overlaps Among the Different Humor Styles .............................................................................. 8 Components of Psychosocial Well-Being ................................................................................... 10 Subjective Well-Being ............................................................................................................... 12 Self-Esteem ................................................................................................................................ 13 Maladaptive Personality ............................................................................................................. 13 Humor Styles and Psychosocial Well-Being .............................................................................. 14 Humor Styles and Subjective Well-Being ................................................................................. 16 Humor Styles and Self-Esteem .................................................................................................. 18 Humor Styles and Maladaptive Personality ............................................................................... 19 Incremental Relationships of the Humor Styles with Psychosocial Well-Being ....................... 20 Causal Relationships Between the Humor Styles and Psychosocial Well-Being ...................... 21 Validity as a Central Psychometric Property ............................................................................ 25 Construct Validity ...................................................................................................................... 25 The Multitrait-Multimethod Approach ...................................................................................... 27 Cognitive Interviewing .............................................................................................................. 28 Construct Validity of the Humor Styles Questionnaire ........................................................... 30 Construct Validity in Terms of Self-Other Agreement .............................................................. 30 Construct Validity Based on
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