No abstract

No abstract

The fear of being laughed at brings to the fore the problematic side of an otherwise very positive aspect of human experience. In the streamline of investigations analyzing the presence and characteristics of gelotophobia, a study focusing on psychiatric patients was carried out. The diagnoses were established according to the criteria of the DSM IV TR (American Psychiatric Association 2000). Based both on clinical and empirical observations, the main hypothesis advanced was that using the Geloph3154 scale, Ss with a psychiatric diagnosis would have higher mean scores than Normal Controls. An additional hypothesis was that intragroup di¤erences were also expected among the various diagnostic categories. The main hypothesis was amply supported, and explanatory suggestions of the finding were proposed. Intragroup di¤erences proved also to be significant. Patients with personality disorders and patients with schizophrenic disorders scored higher than Normal Controls and the other diagnostic groups. And also the number of years spent in psychiatric care resulted significantly associated with higher gelotophobia mean scores. From the present study, a circular, interactive relationship was confirmed between laughter and mental health, which can alternatively be highly positive or deeply negative.

No abstract

The present study examines the role of sensation seeking, conservatism, toughmindedness, sex, and age in appreciation of humor in Italian adults. A sample of 100 females and 48 males responded to Italian adaptations of the 3 WD humor test, Form V of the sensation seeking scale, and the C-Scale. Funniness of incongruity-resolution humor correlated positively with conservatism, female sex, and age, and negatively with all components of sensation seeking. Funniness of nonsense humor correlated positively with experience seeking, general sensation seeking, and male sex and negatively with conservatism. Funniness of sexual content in humor correlated positively with male sex, disinhibition, boredom susceptibility, and toughmindedness. Aversiveness of humor yielded less significant correlations. Conservatism, sensation seeking, and age were potent predictors of structure preference. The investigation of indices of appreciation of sexual content in humor confirmed that structure and content have to be separated both theoretically and empirically in appreciation of sexual humor. Finally, the attitudes held by individuals appreciating a particular type of humor were explored. The results allow the conclusion that appreciation of humor is embedded into a similar nomological network in Italy than in other countries studied. Summary-The present study examines the role of sensation seeking, conservatism, toughmindedness, sex, and age in appreciation of humor in Italian adults. A sample of 100 females and 48 males responded to Italian adaptations of the 3 WD humor test (Ruch 1983), Form V of the sensation seeking scale (Zuckerman, 1979), and the C-Scale (Wilson & Patterson, 1970). Funniness of incongruity-resolution humor correlated positively with conservatism, female sex, and age, and negatively with all components of sensation seeking. Funniness of nonsense humor correlated positively with experience seeking, general sensation seeking, and male sex and negatively with conservatism. Funniness of sexual content in humor correlated positively with male sex, disinhibition, boredom susceptibility, and toughmindedness. Aversiveness of humor yielded less significant correlations. Conservatism, sensation seeking, and age were potent predictors of structure preference. The investigation of indices of appreciation of sexual content in humor confirmed that structure and content have to be separated both theoretically and empirically in appreciation of sexual humor. Finally, the attitudes held by individuals appreciating a particular type of humor were explored. The results allow the conclusion that appreciation of humor appreciation is embedded into a similar nomological network in Italy than in other countries studied.Humor appreciation in Italy, -2 -