Phenomenal power of humor styles: Beneficial v/s detrimental

Pages: 804-807
Ritu Kaushik and Punam Midha (Department of Psychology, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana)

In the contemporary society anxiety, stress and depression are ubiquitous, where the ray of humor appears to be missing. Young generation seems to be caught in the web of mental distortions. Nodoubt we can’t escape ourselves from these negative emotional states, but we can combat them while adopting a specific orientation towards life. With these notions in mind, the present researchers decided to unravel the beneficial v/s detrimental effect of humor with regard to anxiety, stress and depression in the current study. A purposive sample of 100 postgraduate students both male and female aged 21- 30 years, belonging to both rural and urban areas of Rohtak city (Haryana, India) was drawn from the various departments of Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak. Data were analyzed by using descriptive as well as correlational analyses. Findings revealed above average level of positive sense of humors (i.e., affiliative humor & self enhancing humor) and average level in negative sense of humors (i.e., aggressive humor & self defeating humor) whereas mild level of anxiety, stress and depression were found out. Further negative significant correlation was found between positive sense of humors and anxiety, stress and depression. On the contrary, positive significant correlation was found between negative sense of humors and depression only.