Humor, the PEN model of personality, and subjective well-being: Support for differential relationships of eight comic styles

Abstract

The present study examines the correlations of eight comic styles with the Eysenckian system of personality and subjective well-being. A sample of adults (N = 252) completed the Comic Style Markers (assessing fun, humor, nonsense, wit, irony, satire, sarcasm, and cynicism), the short form of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, and measures of subjective well-being (the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, and single items for domain-specific satisfaction). Results showed that the three personality superfactors were related to the comic styles, with extraversion relating to the light styles (fun, wit), and neuroticism relating to the mockery styles (sarcasm and cynicism). Psychoticism was related to all comic styles except for irony. Furthermore, the comic styles correlated with subjective well-being both positively (humor, fun, and wit) and negatively (sarcasm and cynicism). The unique overlap of the comic styles with subjective well-being beyond age, gender, and personality was small. Overall, the study provides initial support for the importance of certain comic styles (especially humor, cynicism, fun, wit, and sarcasm) for subjective well-being. These results pave the way for future intervention studies and experiments that explore the causalities underlying these relationships.