Editing Humour (section)

== Psychological well-being ==
[[File:Alzheimer Tübingen retouched.jpg|thumb|upright|Humour can be a way of dealing with the menacing or unpleasant: Sprayed comment below a memorial plaque for [[Alois Alzheimer]] who first described the memory-damaging [[Alzheimer's disease]] – the German text means "Alois, we will never forget you!"]]
It is generally known that humour contributes to higher subjective wellbeing (both physical and psychological).<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|title = Humor and self-concept|last = Kuiper & Martin|date = 1993|journal = Humor: International Journal of Humor Research|doi = 10.1515/humr.1993.6.3.251|volume=6|issue = 3| pages=251–270 |s2cid = 145015804}}</ref> Previous research on humour and [[psychological well-being]] show that humour is in fact a major factor in achieving, and sustaining, higher psychological wellbeing.<ref name=":2" /><ref name= Bos>{{cite journal |author1=Bos, E. H.|author2=Snippe, E.|author3=de Jonge, P.|author4=Jeronimus, B. F.| year = 2016 | title = Preserving Subjective Wellbeing in the Face of Psychopathology: Buffering Effects of Personal Strengths and Resources | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 11| issue = 3| pages = e0150867| doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0150867 | pmid=26963923|pmc=4786317|bibcode=2016PLoSO..1150867B|doi-access=free}}</ref> This hypothesis is known as general facilitative hypothesis for humour.<ref name=":2" /> That is, positive humour leads to positive health. Not all contemporary research, however, supports the previous assertion that humour is in fact a cause for healthier psychological wellbeing.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Laughter and stress in daily life: Relation to positive and negative affect|last = Kuiper & Martin|date = 1998|journal = Motivation and Emotion|volume = 22|issue = 2|pages = 133–153|doi = 10.1023/A:1021392305352|s2cid = 141287941}}</ref> Some of the previous researches' limitations is that they tend to use a unidimensional approach to humour because it was always inferred that humour was deemed positive. They did not consider other types of humour, or [[humor styles|humour styles]]. For example, self-defeating or aggressive humour.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|title = Individual differences in uses of humor and their relation to psychological well-being: Development of the humor styles questionnaire|last = Martin, Puhlik-Doris, Larsen, Gray., & Weir|date = 2003|journal = Journal of Research in Personality|doi = 10.1016/s0092-6566(02)00534-2|volume=37 |pages=48–75| s2cid=143841188 }}</ref> Research has proposed 2 types of humour that each consist of 2 styles, making 4 styles in total. The two types are adaptive versus maladaptive humour.<ref name=":3" /> Adaptive humour consist of facilitative and self-enhancing humour, and maladaptive is self-defeating and aggressive humour. Each of these styles can have a different impact on psychological and individuals' overall subjective wellbeing.<ref name=":3" />

# Affiliative style humour. Individuals with this dimension of humour tend to use jokes as a means of affiliating relationships, amusing others, and reducing tensions.<ref name=":3" />
# Self-enhancing style humour. People that fall under this dimension of humour tend to take a humorous perspective of life. Individuals with self-enhancing humour tend to use it as a mechanism to cope with [[Stress (biology)|stress]].<ref name=":3" />
# Aggressive humour. Racist jokes, sarcasm and disparagement of individuals for the purpose of amusement. This type of humour is used by people who do not consider the consequences of their jokes, and mainly focus on the entertainment of the listeners.<ref name=":3" />
# Self-defeating humour. People with this style of humour tend to amuse others by using self-disparaging jokes, and also tend to laugh along with others when being taunted. It is hypothesised that people attempt to use this style of humour as a means of social acceptance – which is often unsuccessful.<ref name="Humor styles - International Journal of Environmental Research">{{cite journal | vauthors=((Burger, C.)) | journal=International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health | title=Humor styles, bullying victimization and psychological school adjustment: Mediation, moderation and person-oriented analyses | volume=19 | issue=18 | pages=11415 | date= 2022 | issn=1661-7827 | doi=10.3390/ijerph191811415| pmid=36141686 | pmc=9517355 | doi-access=free }}</ref> It is also mentioned that these people may have an implicit feeling of negativity. So they use this humour as a means of hiding that inner negative feeling.<ref name=":3" />

In the study on humour and psychological well-being, research has concluded that high levels of adaptive type humour (affiliative and self-enhancing) is associated with better self-esteem, positive affect, greater self-competency, as well as anxiety control and social interactions.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|title = Humor is not always the best medicine: Specific components of sense of humor and psychological well-being|last = Kuiper, Grimshaw, Leite., & Kirsh|date = 2004|journal = Humor: International Journal of Humor Research|doi = 10.1515/humr.2004.002|volume=17|issue = 1–2}}</ref> All of which are constituents of psychological wellbeing. Additionally, adaptive humour styles may enable people to preserve their sense of wellbeing despite psychological problems.<ref name= Bos/> In contrast, maladaptive humour types (aggressive and self-defeating) are associated with poorer overall psychological wellbeing,<ref name=":4" /> emphasis on higher levels of anxiety and depression. Therefore, humour may have detrimental effects on psychological wellbeing, only if that humour is of negative characteristics.<ref name=":4" />