Promoting emotional well-being through the use of humour

Abstract

Humour skills programmes are believed to assist in improving emotional well-being by increasing self-efficacy, positive thinking, optimism and perceptions of control, while decreasing negative thinking, perceptions of stress, depression, anxiety and stress. The study aims to evaluate a programme investigating this possibility. Volunteers from the community (37 females and 18 males, aged M = 38 years) were randomly assigned to a humour group, a social group or a non-intervention control group. The programme, consisting of a manual and a booklet of measures assessing indices of well-being, was administered over an 8-week period. Data were collected at baseline, post programme and at 3-month follow-up. Results revealed that unlike the control and social groups, the humour group demonstrated a significant increase in several indices of emotional well-being. Specifically, increases occurred with self-efficacy, positive affect, optimism and perceptions of control, while decreases were found in perceived stress, depression, anxiety and stress levels.

Keywords:

• emotional well-being
• humour skills
• positive affect
• optimism
• self efficacy

Notes

1. This study's version of the Humour Skills Training Programme was read and pilot tested for readability and ease of understanding by six members of the general population (two males and four females). Two of the six members possessed university-level qualifications and the six ranged in age between 19 and 60 years of age (M = 41 years). Feedback on the Manual was elicited using the following questions: (1) How readable was the Manual with regard to spacing, font and general layout? (2) Did you enjoy reading the Manual? (3) Did you find that the humour scattered throughout the Manual added to the pleasure/displeasure of reading? (4) Did you find any of this humour offensive? (5) Were the instructions in each section unambiguous? (6) Do you have any suggestions? Amendments to the Manual were completed in accordance with the feedback received.