Humor, stress, coping, and communication apprehension : a test of empirical relationship

• Main Author: Ditton, Donna S.
• Other Authors: Ball State University. Dept. of Speech Communication.
• Format: Others
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Wit and humor > Psychological aspects.; Stress (Psychology); Adjustment (Psychology); Interpersonal communication.
• Online Access: http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/handle/184700; http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/864917

The purpose of this study was to test the relationship among sense of humor and three constructs: stress, humor as a coping mechanism, and communication apprehension. The participants were 352 midwestern university students. Respondents answered Likert type scales regarding the constructs.Pearson's correlations were computed to test the hypotheses and research questions. The results show significant, though not strong, relationships among all variables regarding sense of humor: stress, humor as a coping mechanism, and communication apprehension. The relationships between sense of humor and the two constructs, stress and communication apprehension, are unexpectedly positive. There are nonsignificant results between communication apprehension and stress.Since the results between sense of humor and stress are contrary to previous research and this is an original test between sense of humor and communication apprehension,further research is indicated. Future reliability and validity checks on the instrument are necessary. === Department of Speech Communication