The effects of humor on mood state of older adults

• Main Author: Bellows, Jennifer L.
• Other Authors: Ball State University. Fisher Institute for Wellness.
• Format: Others
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Older people > Psychology.; Wit and humor > Therapeutic use.
• Online Access: http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/handle/185467; http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/941361

The purpose of this study was to determine if exposure to humor media improves mood states of older adults. The humor media consisted of four thirty minute videos. Ten subjects from a retirement community in East Central Indiana participated in the study. A control group and experimental group were assigned by the Activities Director of the retirement community. Each participant was administered the Profile of Mood States for the pretest and posttest measurement. The Profile of Mood States lists sixty-five adjectives and participants ranked on a scale of 0 to 4 how much they felt that mood within the past week. Members of the experimental group participated in fifteen minute interviews after the completion of the intervention.Total mood score means for the experimental group indicated an increase in positive mood from the pretest to the post-test. Total Mood Score means for the control group showed either no change or a decrease in positive mood. Because the sample size was very small,no statistical test of significance could be executed to test the null hypothesis. Based upon the qualitative interviews and the simple analysis of quantitative data humor media appears to have positive effects on the subjects in nursing homes and retirement communities. However, this intervention deserves further investigation with a larger sample that would allow for more rigorous statistical analysis. === Fisher Institute for Wellness