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- Title
Essentializing Humor and Implications for Pursuing Happiness.
- Authors
Cao, Yi; Liu, Yuanze; Hou, Yubo; Ji, Li-Jun
- Abstract
To what extent an individual holds an essentialist belief about a sense of humor may influence their use of humor and subsequently subjective well-being. We conducted three studies with Chinese adults to examine the effect of such Belief in Essentialism about Sense of Humor (BESH) on people's intention to use humor and subjective happiness. Study 1 (n = 333) manipulated BESH and found that high BESH reduced individuals' likelihood of using humor, especially in negative social contexts. Study 2 (n = 240) showed that the high BESH predicted lower subjective happiness through a low intention to use humor in negative contexts. Study 3 (n = 100) used an online intervention paradigm to manipulate BESH and found that intervention in BESH enhanced the subjective happiness of participants who were coping with COVID-19. The research highlights the importance of essentialist beliefs about humor and suggests ways of improving happiness by reducing such beliefs.
- Subjects
HAPPINESS; PSYCHOLOGICAL essentialism; WIT &; humor; SUBJECTIVE well-being (Psychology); SOCIAL context
- Publication
Journal of Happiness Studies, 2024, Vol 25, Issue 1/2, p1
- ISSN
1389-4978
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s10902-024-00717-y