Are humor styles predictors of hope? sex and age differences in Italian adolescents and young adults

ABSTRACT

The study analyzed relationships among humor styles and hope and deepen the role of humor styles as predictors of hope in 582 Italian adolescents and young adults (with age ranged between 14 and 27). Sex and age differences were observed. The Humor Styles Questionnaire was used to assess the inclination to adopt positive (affiliative/self-enhancing) and negative (aggressive/self-defeating) humor styles, and Hope Scale was used to evaluate the general level of hope ("overall" hope score) and its two components (agency/pathways). Significant differences for sex and age-groups were found. Correlation analyses pointed out that positive humor styles were positively related to hope, and self-defeating humor was negatively associated to hope. Linear regressions displayed that self-enhancing and affiliative styles positively influenced hope while self-defeating negatively affected hope. The emerged relationships suggested that promoting the use of humor to amuse the others facilitate interpersonal relationships especially in developmental age

RESUMEN

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