Gender differences in the associations of reappraisal and humor styles

Bibliographic Data

ID12196129
AuthorsAngela A Sillars (University of California, Riverside, CA, USA), Christina Nicolaides (University of California, Riverside, CA, USA), Alexander Karan (0000-0002-4033-9290, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA), Robert C Wright (0000-0001-7573-3987, University of California, Riverside), Robert Wright (0000-0003-3520-9667, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA), Megan L Robbins (0000-0001-7114-9214, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA), Elizabeth L Davis (0000-0003-2599-4390, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume33
Issue2
Pages317-340
Publication date2020-02-11
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueHumor - International Journal of Humor Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0933-1719 • E-ISSN: 1613-3722
PublisherDe Gruyter Mouton (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/humor-2019-0016
OpenAlexW3005626106
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited35

Reappraisal is an effective emotion regulation strategy that draws on cognitive processes–like changing one’s thoughts to change one’s feelings–that are similar to those implicated in humor. Yet, very little is known about the links between the dispositional tendency to use reappraisal and individuals’ humor styles (e. g. aggressive, affiliative, self-deprecating, self-enhancing). Importantly, there are gender differences both in emotion regulatory processes and in the use of humor styles. We examined gender differences in reported use of humor styles, the associations between reappraisal and humor styles, and whether gender moderated those associations. Participants ( N =250) were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk and self-reported their dispositional use of reappraisal and four humor styles. Men reported greater use of aggressive humor compared to women. Dispositional use of reappraisal was positively associated with self-enhancing humor. In addition, reappraisal use was positively related to greater use of affiliative humor, and this association was stronger for men than women. For men, greater use of reappraisal was associated with greater use of self-defeating humor, but reappraisal was negatively associated with self-defeating humor for women. Findings extend insight from prior work and suggest that both reappraisal and specific ways of using humor draw on aspects of self-regulatory competence rooted in cognitive change abilities, and the patterns of association differ in interesting ways for men and women

Association (psychology · Cognition · Cognitive reappraisal · Developmental psychology · Expressive Suppression · Feeling · Psychotherapist · Communication in Education and Healthcare · Humor Studies and Applications · Media Influence and Health · Psychology · Social Psychology

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