Humor Styles and their Relationship to Well-Being among the Gifted

Abstract

The present study examined the extent to which a sample of 202 gifted individuals (members of Mensa) engaged in four humor styles and the extent to which these humor styles were related to their well-being. These results were compared to a comparative population sample (n = 265). Results showed that gifted individuals most often used positive humor styles. There were no within sex differences in the use of humor styles between the gifted sample and the comparative population sample. Men (in both samples), however, used aggressive humor more than women. Self-enhancing humor (+) and self-defeating humor (-) were related most consistently to well-being across sub-samples. For men, significant differences were found between the two samples with regard to the relations between humor styles and well-being: Affiliative and self-enhancing humor related positively and substantially to well-being in men from the comparative population sample, but not in men from the gifted sample.

Keywords:

• Giftedness
• humor styles
• well-being

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Pieternel Dijkstra

Pieternel Dijkstra works as an independent psychologist, researcher, writer and teacher. As a researcher, she is interested in topics such as personality, social relationships and jealousy. In addition to having published more than 40 scientific papers (see PsycInfo), she has written 15 popular psychological books and hundreds of articles in popular magazines on a diversity of psychological topics. In addition to doing research, her mission is to make scientific findings accessible to the general public.

Dick Barelds

Dick Barelds is an Assistant Professor at the University of Groningen. His main field of interest is personality psychology, which he combines with an interest in relationship topics, such as jealousy, and occupational topics, such as work satisfaction and work engagement. In addition to having published a couple of dozen scientific papers, he has developed several psychological tests (e.g., personality and intelligence tests), that are used for selection and diagnostic purposes in The Netherlands.

Sieuwke Ronner

Sieuwke Ronner works as an independent coach, trainer and management consultant, and is specialised in gifted individuals at work. In addition to having published several articles concerning psychosocial stress and violence at work, she has written a book about working and living with giftedness and (together with Noks Nauta) more than 10 articles about this topic. Her mission is the improvement of gifted individuals’ self-confidence, and the improvement of the competencies of professionals, such as occupational health doctors and psychologists, that work with gifted people.

Arnolda Nauta

Noks Nauta is a medical doctor, specialised in occupational health and a psychologist of work and organisation and became interested in gifted adults in 2000. She writes articles and a book (together with Sieuwke Ronner) about working and living with giftedness. Her mission is the empowerment of gifted adults and the improvement of professionals’ competences (e.g., doctors, psychologists) on the theme of giftedness. Since 2010 she works for the Netherlands Gifted and Talented Adults Foundation (IHBV).