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- Title
Humor as a character strength among the elderly.
- Authors
Ruch, W.; Proyer, R. T.; Weber, M.
- Abstract
Background. Positive psychology studies what is best in people. In their classification of strengths and virtues, Peterson and Seligman [11] assign humor to the virtue of transcendence. Thus far, there is no specific study that deals with age-related changes in humor (as a strength of character) across a lifespan and its relation to well-being in the elderly. Participants and methods. A total of n=42,964 participants completed an online questionnaire on humor as a strength of character. Participants also completed the Satisfaction with Life Scale and the Orientations to Happiness Scale. Results. In a cross-sectional design, the scores for humor decreased until the age of 50. Men between 51 and 62 years had higher scores; there was a trend for women older than 70 to score higher (but this was not statistically significant). Humor was robustly positively correlated with life satisfaction, as well with a pleasurable and an engaged life, but was lowest with a meaningful life. The oldest participants had the lowest (yet still meaningful) correlation coefficients (with the exception of a meaningful life). Conclusion. The study contributes to the understanding of humor across the lifespan and underlines the importance of studies among the elderly within a framework of positive psychology.
- Subjects
WIT &; humor; POSITIVE psychology; TRANSCENDENCE (Philosophy); HAPPINESS; OLDER people's conduct of life
- Publication
Zeitschrift für Gerontologie und Geriatrie, 2010, Vol 43, Issue 1, p13
- ISSN
0948-6704
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s00391-009-0090-0