Premium
Relationship of humour to health: A psychometric investigation
Author(s) -
Boyle Gregory J.,
JossReid Jeanne M.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
british journal of health psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.05
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 2044-8287
pISSN - 1359-107X
DOI - 10.1348/135910704322778722
Subject(s) - psychology , sense of humor , construct validity , context (archaeology) , scale (ratio) , validity , clinical psychology , social psychology , developmental psychology , psychometrics , paleontology , physics , quantum mechanics , biology
The effects of humour on health were investigated using a sample of 504 individuals comprising three groups (community group, university students, and respondents with a medical condition). Hypotheses were:1 that after controlling for other variables, humour would be significantly associated with health: 2 that individuals with a greater sense of humour would report significantly higher levels of good health as compared with those with less humour; and 3 that the assessment of the factor structure of the Multidimensional Sense of Humour Scale (MSHS) would support its construct validity in the Australian context.The present findings supported the view that a sense of humour is associated with health, and also provided support for the validity and reliability of the MSHS instrument.