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Who Benefits From Humor-Based Positive Psychology Interventions? The Moderating Effects of Personality Traits and Sense of Humor.

ABSTRACT: The evidence for the effectiveness of humor-based positive psychology interventions (PPIs; i.e., interventions aimed at enhancing happiness and lowering depressive symptoms) is steadily increasing. However, little is known about who benefits most from them. We aim at narrowing this gap by examining whether personality traits and sense of humor moderate the long-term effects of humor-based interventions on happiness and depressive symptoms. We conducted two placebo-controlled online-intervention studies testing for moderation effects. In Study 1 (N = 104) we tested for moderation effects of basic personality traits (i.e., psychoticism, extraversion, and neuroticism) in the three funny things intervention, a humor-based PPI. In Study 2 (N = 632) we tested for moderation effects of the sense of humor in five different humor-based interventions. Happiness and depressive symptoms were assessed before and after the intervention, as well as after 1, 3, and 6 months. In Study 2, we assessed sense of humor before and 1 month after the intervention to investigate if changes in sense of humor go along with changes in happiness and depressive symptoms. We found moderating effects only for extraversion. Extraverts benefitted more from the three funny things intervention than introverts. For neuroticism and psychoticism no moderation effects were found. For sense of humor, no moderating effects were found for the effectiveness of the five humor-based interventions tested in Study 2. However, changes in sense of humor from pretest to the 1-month follow-up predicted changes in happiness and depressive symptoms. Taking a closer look, the playful attitude- and sense of humor-subscales predicted changes in happiness and depression for up to 6 months. Overall, moderating effects for personality (i.e., extraversion) were found, but none for sense of humor at baseline. However, increases in sense of humor during and after the intervention were associated with the interventions' effectiveness. Thus, we found humor-based interventions to be equally suited for humorous and non-humorous people, but increases in the sense of humor during the intervention phase could serve as an indicator whether it is worth continuing the intervention in the long-term.

SUBMITTER: Wellenzohn S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5985328 | biostudies-other | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Who Benefits From Humor-Based Positive Psychology Interventions? The Moderating Effects of Personality Traits and Sense of Humor.

Wellenzohn Sara S Proyer René T RT Ruch Willibald W

Frontiers in psychology 20180528

The evidence for the effectiveness of humor-based positive psychology interventions (PPIs; i.e., interventions aimed at enhancing happiness and lowering depressive symptoms) is steadily increasing. However, little is known about who benefits most from them. We aim at narrowing this gap by examining whether personality traits and sense of humor moderate the long-term effects of humor-based interventions on happiness and depressive symptoms. We conducted two placebo-controlled online-intervention ...[more]

PMID: 29892252

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Project description:OBJECTIVES:Type D personality is associated with psychological and physical ill-health. However, there has been limited investigation of the role of Type D personality in interventions designed to enhance well-being. This study investigated associations between Type D personality and the efficacy of positive emotional writing for reducing stress, anxiety, and physical symptoms. DESIGN:A between-subjects longitudinal design was employed. METHOD:Participants (N = 71, Mage = 28.2, SDage = 12.4) completed self-report measures of Type D personality, physical symptoms, perceived stress, and trait anxiety, before completing either (1) positive emotional writing or (2) a non-emotive control writing task, for 20 min per day over three consecutive days. State anxiety was measured immediately before and after each writing session, and self-report questionnaires were again administered 4 weeks post-writing. RESULTS:Participants in the positive emotional writing condition showed significantly greater reductions in (1) state anxiety and (2) both trait anxiety and perceived stress over the 4-week follow-up period, compared to the control group. While these effects were not moderated by Type D personality, a decrease in trait anxiety was particularly evident in participants who reported both high levels of social inhibition and low negative affectivity. Linguistic analysis of the writing diaries showed that Type D personality was positively associated with swear word use, but not any other linguistic categories. CONCLUSION:These findings support the efficacy of positive emotional writing for alleviating stress and anxiety, but not perceived physical symptoms. Swearing may be a coping strategy employed by high Type D individuals. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Type D (distressed) personality is characterized by high levels of both negative affectivity and social inhibition, and has been associated with adverse physical and psychological health. Positive emotional writing is known to reduce subjectively reported physical symptoms and increase positive affect. What does this study add? Positive emotional writing was shown to attenuate (1) state anxiety immediately post-writing, and (2) trait anxiety and perceived stress 4 weeks post-writing. The findings demonstrate that positive writing might be a useful intervention for attenuating the adverse psychological effects of Type D personality in the general population. Type D personality was associated with more frequent use of swear words, which may be a coping mechanism used by high Type D individuals.

Project description:Self-control is important for mental and physical health, and personality traits are vital antecedents for self-control. Previous studies suggest that conscientiousness and extraversion enhance self-control, whereas neuroticism hampers it. However, the link between personality and self-control has mostly been studied using a narrow conceptualization of self-control, as the ability to resist impulses, thus excluding initiatory self-control. Also, no studies have examined whether and how personality traits interact with one another to increase, or reduce, self-control. Data were collected on two occasions from 480 military cadets (31.04% female) to examine the relationship between the Big Five personality traits and self-control (general, inhibitory, and initiatory self-control). Furthermore, the study investigated the moderating role of neuroticism, as a trait and as individual facets, on the relationship between the other personality traits and self-control. Although neuroticism correlated negatively with all self-control dimensions, there were unique relations only with general and inhibitory self-control. Extraversion correlated positively with all self-control dimensions but was only uniquely related to initiatory self-control. Conscientiousness correlated positively with all self-control dimensions and this pattern persisted when we assessed the unique effects. Openness to experience and agreeableness correlated positively with general and inhibitory self-control but had no unique effects on any of the self-control dimensions. Neuroticism negatively moderated the relationship between extraversion and both general and inhibitory self-control, and the relationship between conscientiousness and both general and initiatory self-control. The facet-level analysis confirmed the general patterns and provided further detail on which facets of neuroticism were the most influential as moderators. In conclusion, the study highlights the critical role of different types of self-control, and that neuroticism plays a cardinal role for the effects of conscientiousness and extraversion on self-control.

Project description:IntroductionDespite the growing volume of published studies on the effects of positive psychology interventions (PPIs), little is known about their effectiveness outside of Western countries, particularly in Arab countries. As the effectiveness of PPIs in this region remains unclear, a systematic review focusing on this area of research can offer a valuable contribution. Here, we present a protocol for the first systematic review that aims to examine the effects of PPIs on increasing well-being, quality of life and resilience and decreasing depression, anxiety and stress for both health and clinical, child and adult populations in Arab countries.Methods and analysisThis protocol is carried out in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols guidelines. A systematic literature search for studies up to 30 April 2021 will be conducted in the following electronic databases: PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, ProQuest, Dar Al Mandumah and Al Manhal. Experimental/quasi-experimental quantitative studies evaluating the effects of PPIs on healthy and clinical participants of all ages in the 22 Arab countries will be included. Outcomes will include psychological effects of PPIs on dimensions related to well-being (eg, happiness), quality of life, resilience, depression, anxiety and stress. The risk of bias will be evaluated using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool. A narrative synthesis with tables of study characteristics will be provided. A meta-analysis will be included if outcomes allow; in this instance, subgroups analysis will be conducted, depending on the data gathered, to examine differences in effect sizes based on age group, population type, duration of intervention and type of intervention.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval was not required for the performance of this systematic review. We intend to publish the study in a peer-reviewed journal and share the findings at relevant conferences.Prospero registration numberCRD42020198092.

Project description:BackgroundWhile many studies have explored the concept and correlates of stigma towards individuals with mental illness, few have investigated the role of personality in this process. In the current study, we firstly examined the relationship between personality and stigma towards mental illness; and then explored the moderating effects of personality traits on the relationship between contact experience/s and stigma.MethodsParticipants were recruited from public medical (N = 502) and nursing schools (N = 500) from April to September 2016 in Singapore for this cross-sectional survey, and they were randomly assigned to a vignette describing one of the following mental disorders: major depressive disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, alcohol abuse, schizophrenia, and dementia. Stigma was measured by the 'Personal and Perceived scales of the Depression Stigma Scale' and the 'Social Distance Scale'. These scales together had a 3-factor structure based on a previous national study in Singapore, namely 'weak-not-sick', 'dangerous/unpredictable' and 'social distance'. Personality was measured by the 20-item short form of the International Personality Item Pool-five factor model measure.ResultsRegression suggested agreeableness and openness to experience were negatively associated with all three domains of stigma. 'Weak-not-sick' and extraversion were positively associated; and 'social distance' was positively associated with higher scores on conscientiousness and neuroticism. Both close- and non-close contact were associated with more positive attitudes towards mental illness among the participants. Openness to experience moderated the relationships of close contact experience with 'weak-not-sick' and 'dangerous/unpredictable', but in different directions. The association between close contact and 'social distance' were moderated by agreeableness.ConclusionsUnlike non-close contact experience, close contact with people with mental illness worked differently on stigma for individuals with different personality traits. Future studies are needed to further explore the underlying mechanisms for such differences.

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Who Benefits From Humor-Based Positive Psychology Interventions? The Moderating Effects of Personality Traits and Sense of Humor.

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Who Benefits From Humor-Based Positive Psychology Interventions? The Moderating Effects of Personality Traits and Sense of Humor.

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