Sense of Humor, Affect, and Personality. A Study of University Students

In the present study, 652 college students were evaluated to analyze the relationship between the use of humor, affect, and personality. The results showed that males made greater use of both positive and negative humor and had higher levels of impulsivity, activity, sociability, and aggressiveness. No differences between the sexes were found in the management of affect. People who showed greater use of positive humor (affiliative and self-enhancing), also showed more positive affect and higher levels of activity, sociability, and impulsivity. Finally,
293 participants (44.93 %) showed positive affect, increased positive mood, and low levels of anxiety; 171 people (26.22 %) exhibited lower affect and high affiliative and aggressive use of humor as a method of sociability, and 188 people (28.83 %) had highly negative affect, little exhibition of positive mood, and styles characterized by high anxiety and aggressiveness. The data provide evidence of the relationship between sense of humor, affect, and personality.

Keywords: Sense of humor, positive and negative affect, personality.