Who Laughs, and Who Doesn't? Predicting Humor Skills From Personality, Social Anxiety, and Laughter Dispositions of Gelotophobia, Gelotophilia, and Katagelasticism

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21392008
AutoresChloé Lau (0000-0001-6579-8832, Temerty Faculty of Medicine University of Toronto Toronto Ontario Canada, autor de correspondencia), Francesca Chiesi (0000-0002-6861-9219, Section of Psychology, Department of Neuroscience, Psychology, Drug, and Child's Health (NEUROFARBA) University of Florence Florence Italy), Francesco Bruno (0000-0003-1377-4489, Department of Human and Social Sciences, Faculty of Social and Communication Sciences Universitas Mercatorum Rome Italy), Donald H Saklofske (0000-0001-8350-1924, Department of Psychology University of Western Ontario London Ontario Canada), Lena C Quilty (0000-0003-0934-4363, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Toronto Ontario Canada)
Año2026
Fecha de publicación2026-05-20
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaScandinavian Journal of Psychology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0036-5564 • E-ISSN: 1467-9450
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/sjop.70116
PMID42160724
OpenAlexW4412108880
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas47

Laughter‐related dispositions, including gelotophobia (fear of being laughed at), gelotophilia (enjoyment of being laughed with), and katagelasticism (enjoyment of laughing at others), may explain patterns of humor use beyond broad personality traits and social anxiety. However, their incremental predictive value across distinct humor domains remains insufficiently examined. A sample of 788 Canadian university students completed self‐report measures of laughter‐related dispositions, HEXACO personality traits, social anxiety, and six humor domains. Hierarchical regression models assessed incremental validity beyond personality and social anxiety. Gradient boosting machine learning models were conducted to examine nonlinear effects and relative predictor importance. Gelotophilia consistently predicted greater humor use across domains. Gelotophobia predicted lower everyday humor, reduced laughing at oneself, and diminished humor under stress, even after controlling for personality and social anxiety. Katagelasticism showed minimal associations with adaptive humor domains. Machine learning analyses converged with regression findings, underscoring the robustness of these effects. Laughter‐related dispositions demonstrate distinct and incremental contributions to humor use beyond personality and social anxiety. Gelotophilia and gelotophobia, in particular, represent meaningful predictors of adaptive humor engagement

Anxiety · Avoidant personality disorder · Developmental psychology · Laughter · Personality · Personality disorders · Psychiatry · Social anxiety · Social skills · Clinical Psychology · Humor Studies and Applications · Media, Gender, and Advertising · Psychology · Social Psychology