AN INVESTIGATION NT0 THE USE OF HUMOR FOR COPING WTH STRESS by Stacy Elizabeth Thomas A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfîllment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2000 OSracy Elizabeth Thomas, 2000. National Library Bibliothèque nationale du Canada Acquisitions ana Acquisitions et Bibliographic Senrices services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellington Ottawa ON KIA ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence dowing the exclusive pemettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distri'bute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic fomats. la fome de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur consenre la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantiat extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. The Universiw of Waterloo requires the signatures of ail persons using or photocopying this thesis. Please sign below, and give address and date. ABSTRACT The aim of the present research was to fùrther understanding of how humor is used as a coping strategy and the potential influence of sex, temperarnent. and situationa1 factors on its effectiveness. Study 1 describes the development of a new measure, the Waterloo Uses of Humor Inventory (WUHI), which was designed to gain a more comprehensive assessment of coping hurnor than was available with existing measures. The results of exploratory factor analysis indicated 3 factors for the WUHI: Perspective-Taking Humor which describes adopting a humorous perspective on and sharing humorous stories about stressful events and personal short-comings; Aggressive Humor, the use of hostile humor when threatened; and Avoidant Humor, using humor to distract one's self and/or others fiom immediate stressors. Confirmatory factor analyses proved that the 3-factor solution was replicable and did not differ between the sexes. The 3 subscales also demonstrated good interna1 consistency and stability. Study 2 and Study 3 examined the validity of the WUHI scales. Study 2 investigated their relationships with previously established measures of hurnor. personality and coping. Study 3 investigated the ability of the WUHI scales to predict hurnor behaviour and moods in response to a stressful lab situation. The pattern of associations found with each WUM scde across studies was unique and, for the most part, predictable based on theoretical considerations. The WHI scales were also distinct ftom a measure of cheerfûl temperament in the prediction of outcomes in response to stress, hence providing support for their incremental validity and potentid utility as predictors of behaviour and moods in situations where coping is relevant. The findings are discussed with respect to their implications for clinical interventions and fiiture research. Acknowledgements 1would like to extend rny deepiy felt thanks and appreciation to everyone who contributed to this project. First, the members of my cornmittee, Dr.'s Herbert Lefcourt, Erik Woody, and Scott McCabe, for their input and support. Thank you to everyone who participated in these studies, those who helped me collect and code the data (Michael Bussari, Troy Visser, Ji11 Dickenson, Lisa Cassagrande, Al Negro, Steve Rueffer, Gayle Kunkle, Jessie Hymen, Laura Shepard, and Joe Pellizzari), and to my friends Romie Bercovici, Karen Fisher, Mark MacKenzie, Laurent Lapier, and Shawna Lightbody for volunteering their hurnor, creativity, and acting skills for the development of recordings used to elicit hurnor from research participants. Last, but not least, 1would like to thank my family and friends who were integral in helping me maintain my sense of humor throughout this process: The Thomas clan: Mum and Dad, Garth, Alicia, Sue, and Suga-Thai; David Zweig, Karen MacCleod, Rebecca Cohen, fisBelanger, Marla Bigel, Shawna Lightbody, Leanne Son Hing, Ronnie Bercovici, Laurent Lapier, Cindy Toyota, Tomasz Tornza, Mark & Joe MacKenzie, Julie Anderson. Beth Schuur, Michelle Woitzcik, Karen Fisher, Brian Wilson, and Jamie Witchard. This work is dedicated to rny parents, for al1 of their love and support. Table of Contents Introduction ..................................................................... -1 Study 1 a . Introduction ........................................................... 19 b- Method & Results .................................................... 26 c . Discussion ............................................................ 38 Study 2 a . Introduction ........................................................... 40 b . Method ................................................................ 48 c . Results & Discussion ................................................ 51 Study 3 a- Introduction ........................................................... 72 b . Method ................................................................. 84 c. Results ................................................................. 97 d- Discussion .......................................................... -133 General Discussion .............................................................. 145 References- ...................................................................... 156 Appendix A (Quip Task scenarios).......................................... 168 Appendix B (Original WUHI items) ........................................ 172 4ppendix C (Copy of WUHI) ........... .. ................................... 175 10. Appendix D (EFA results of WUHI for each sex) ....................... -179 I 1. Appendix E a . Copy of the CHS ......... .. ........................................ 182 b . Copy of the SHRQ ................................................ 183 c . Sample NEO-FFI items ........................................... 189 d . Sample COPE items ............................................ ... 190 e . Copy of the BIDR4M .............................................. 192 12. Appendix F a . STCI-T<6O> Trait-Cheerhlness items .......................... 193 b . Copy of the PANAS .............................................. -194 vii c. Transcript of demonstration video ............................... 195 d . Double Entendre Word Association Task ..................... -198 13. Appendix G a. Experimental consent form ...................................... -199 b . Oral debriefing interview script ................................. -200 c . Post-debnefing consent form ...................................... 203 d . Feedback to participants ...........................................204 14. Appendix H Coding manual for humorous narratives ........................... 206 15. Appendix 1 Table of false and actual stress task norrns ........................219 viii List of Tables hterpretation of the Pattern Matrix Following Principal Components Exploratory Factor Analysis with an Oblique Rotation.. ...........................................................27 Inter-Factor Correlations for the 6 factor mode1 of the WUHI ....................................................................... -29 Correlations among unit-weighted factor scores of the 6- factor mode1 of the WUHI.. ..................................... -29 Interpretation of the Pattern Matrix Fo llowing Principal- Components Exploratory Factor Analysis with an Oblique Rotation - 3 Factors Specified. .............................. ..... 3 1 Correlations among unit-weighted factor scores of the 3- factor mode1 of the WUHI.. .................................... ..32 Descriptive and reliability statistics for males and females on unit-weighted factor composite scores for the WUHI.. .......34 Correlations among composite factor scores of the 3-factor mode1 of the WUHI arnong males and females separately... 34 Stacked CFAs Testing Sex-Differences in the Fit of the 3- Factor Mode1 of the WUHI.. ..................................... 3 6 Descriptives within mass-testing sample.. ................... -32 10. Descriptives within lab sarnple.. .............................. -32 Il. Correlations between the CHS and WUHI scales .............56 12. Correlations between the CHS and WUHI scales among males and fernales, separately .................................... 56 13. Correlations between measures of humor and the Big Five personality traits.. ................................................ -58 14. Correlations between measures of humor and the COPE 9 scales ............................................................... -6J 15. Cornparison of PA and NA before and after the stress manipulation. ..................................................... ..99 16. Descriptives ...................................................... 100 17. Correlations.. .................................................... -1O 1 18. Correlations between predictor variables among males and females, separately ............................................... 102 19-Raw and transfonned means and standard deviations of observed humor behaviour during the stress manipulation.. .................................................... 103 20. Correlations