St. Paul University Philippines
Tuguegarao City, Cagayan 3500
HUMOR STYLES AND PERSONALITY OF PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS
1
Introduction
Both historians and scientists agree that having a healthy
sense of humor is exceptionally desirable and adaptable. (Cann,
Stilwell, & Taku, 2010). On the other hand, Martin, PuhlikDoris,
Larsen,
Gray,
and
Weir
(2003)
discovered
and
distinguished between four basic forms of humor that people
often utilize. The varieties of humor that are affiliative and
self-enhancing are considered to be on the positive side. In
contrast, the types of humor that are combative and selfdefeating are considered to be on the negative side.
The researchers intend to find out the connection between
the four humor styles—Affiliative, Self-Enhancing, Aggressive,
and
Self-Defeating
to
the
Big
Five
Personality
Traits—
Extroversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to
Experience.
Based on the prediction, the high centrality of HSQ Selfenhancing indicates the possibility of using this node as a
starting point to foster positive and adaptive humor styles.
The centrality of HSQ Self-defeating suggests that strengthbased interventions could be focused on increasing adaptive
humor styles and decreasing them to enhance health-promoting
humor styles. Furthermore, the bridge node of the HSQ Aggressive
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St. Paul University Philippines
Tuguegarao City, Cagayan 3500
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humor style with specific personality facets shows its possible
use in intervention to both resize and adaptively improve
relationships between humor and personality.
Thus, this paper aims to shed light on the relationship
between humor styles and personality assessed through Humor
Styles
Questionnaire
(HSQ)
and
the
Big
Five
Personality
Questionnaire (BFQ).
Conceptual Framework
In this study, the researchers will experiment to determine
if there is a significant relationship between the four humor
styles—Affiliative,
Defeating
to
the
Self-Enhancing,
Big
Five
Aggressive,
Personality
and
Self-
Traits—Extroversion,
Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience.
Some
researchers
positively
associated
found
that
Self-enhancing
with
Emotion
Control.
humor
This
is
result
highlighted the centrality of this humor style in terms of a
positive
resource
since
the
Self-enhancing
humor
style
is
positively related to well-being and personality. On the other
side, Self-defeating humor is negatively associated with Emotion
Control. This result highlights the centrality of this humor
style in terms of a potential aspect of vulnerability since
Self-defeating humor can be detrimental to an individual’s wellbeing and personality.
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Tuguegarao City, Cagayan 3500
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Therefore, the researchers will experiment to determine
the relationship between humor styles and personality. This will
be assessed by distributing two types of questionnaires to 1st
year and 2nd-year Psychology students of St. Paul University
Philippines—the Humor Styles Questionnaire and the Big Five
Questionnaire.
Statement of the Problem
This study aims to shed light on the knowledge generated
in
social
psychology
and
positive
psychology
about
the
relationship between humor styles and personality.
It answers the following questions:
1.
2.
What is the profile of the participants in terms of ;
a.
age;
b.
gender; and
c.
educational level
What is the extent of personality types of the respondents
as to:
a.
Extroversion
b.
Neuroticism
c.
Agreeableness
d.
Conscientiousness
e.
Intellect/Imagination
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Tuguegarao City, Cagayan 3500
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3.
4.
What are the humor styles of the participants:
a.
Affiliative Humor
b.
Self-enhancing Humor
c.
Aggressive Humor
d.
Self-defeating Humor
Is
there
a
significant
difference
in
the
extent
of
personality types of the respondents when grouped according to
profile?
5.
Is there a significant difference of the humor styles of
the respondents when grouped according to profile?
6.
Is there a significant relationship between humor style
and the extent of the personality of the respondents?
Hypothesis
There is no significant relationship between humor styles
and personality among Psychology students.
Significance of the Study
The following will be greatly benefited from this study:
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St. Paul University Philippines
Tuguegarao City, Cagayan 3500
Teachers. This study will inform the teachers about the
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relationship between humor styles and personality. Thus, they
will be more observant of the humor styles of their students.
Parents and adults. This study will give the parents and
other adults valid information to be more knowledgeable of their
humor styles. They can also share this awareness with others
and their children.
Students. Like parents and adults, students will learn
about the relationship between humor and personality. Thus, they
will be knowledgeable about their humor towards others as well.
Future Researchers. Lastly, this study will benefit future
researchers similarly interested in studying touches of humor
and personality.
Scope and Limitations
This study will focus on the relationship between humor style
and personality. It is decided that the study will be conducted
at St. Paul University Philippines. The participants are going
to be college students. Therefore, the researchers will select
from the Psychology department, ranging from 1st to 2nd-year
students currently studying in the academic year of 2022 to
2023.
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CHAPTER 2
Research Design
The researchers employed a correlational research design to
obtain the necessary information for the study. A standardized
questionnaire will determine the relationship between the humor
styles and personalities of psychology students at St. Paul
University Philippines (SPUP).
Sample and Sampling Procedure
The
study's
researchers
will
use
snowball
sampling
to
determine at least 50 participants. The participants will be
from
1
st
year,
2
nd
year
and
3 -year
rd
Bachelor
of
Science
in
Psychology students of St. Paul University Philippines. After
identifying and contacting the potential participants whom the
researchers know for each year level, they will ask them to
recommend any classmates who would be a good fit for the research
study. After securing the participant's consent, the researchers
will formally get their contact information. The researchers
will then contact the participants to meet on a specific date
and in a specific room at SPUP. Lastly, the researchers will
meet the participants per year level during their free time.
Research Instruments
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The researchers will adopt a standardized tool to measure
the respondents' humor styles and personality types. This will
ensure the validity and reliability of the data to be gathered
and used to generate valuable findings for the study.
The humor version is derived from the HSQ of Ruch &
Heintz
(2014). This questionnaire assesses the HSQ humor styles reduced
to their core contents without any or only minimal contextual
information.
Sample
(affiliative), "I
(self-enhancing),
items
are
"I
laugh
and
joke
a
lot"
can usually cheer myself up with humor"
"I
often tease others" (aggressive), and "I
often make jokes about myself or make fun of myself" (selfdefeating). The instrument employs a
from
"totally disagree"
(1) to
seven-point
Likert scale
"totally agree" (7).
On the other hand, Big Five Inventory was crafted by John,
Donahue & Kentle (1991). This tool measures the FFM personality
dimensions with
are
44 items
(8 to 10 per trait). Sample items
"I see myself as someone talkative"
see myself as someone who is depressed,
"I
(extraversion),
blue"
"I
(neuroticism),
see myself as someone who has an active imagination"
(openness),
"I
see myself as someone helpful and unselfish
with others" (agreeableness), and "I see myself as someone who
does a thorough job" (conscientiousness). The instrument employs
a
five-point
Likert scale from
"disagree strongly"
"agree strongly" (5).
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Data Collection Procedure
The researchers used a snowball sampling procedure that
assigned 50 participants from Psychology Department. Twentyfive students are from 1st Year Psychology, and 25 are from 2nd
Year Psychology.
This
selected
student
students
is
conducted
are
to
face-to-face
convene
in
FLC
in
306
to
which
the
take
the
questionnaires. The researchers will first introduce their study
to the respondents and, alongside, give the students directions.
There are two sets of questionnaires to be answered. First will
be the 32-item Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ), which will take
15 minutes, and next will be the 50-item Big Five Inventory
(BFI), which will take 20 minutes.
After this, the researchers will brief the respondents on
the
variables
presented
in
this
research
for
their
clarification. Furthermore, the researchers will also provide a
small token for the respondents as a sign of gratitude for their
participation.
Data Analysis Procedure
The data will be interpreted individually to determine the
respondent's
humor
styles
and
personalities.
Then,
the
researchers will group them according to their demographic
profile and determine if there are significant differences. More
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St. Paul University Philippines
Tuguegarao City, Cagayan 3500
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so, ANOVA will be used to compare the respondents' humor style
and extent of personality to the profile of respondents. Lastly,
the researchers will use Pearson R to identify if there is a
significant relationship between the respondents' humor style
and
extent
of
personality.
Researchers
will
use
the
data
gathered from the respondents' humor style and personality type
to compare the responses.
Humor-style questionnaire interpretation will be used to
find out the respondent's humor style.
Formula:
Some of the following items:
Affiliative Humor: 1*, 5, 9*, 13, 17*, 21, 25*, 29*
Self-Enhancing Humor: 2, 6, 10, 14, 18, 22*, 26, 30
Aggressive Humor: 3, 7*, 11, 15*, 19, 23*, 27, 31*
Self-Defeating Humor: 4, 8, 12, 16*, 20, 24, 28, 32
Note: Items with an asterisk (*) will be scored reversed
Scale
Interpretation Scores
1
Totally Disagree
1
7
2
Moderately Disagree 2
6
3
Slightly Disagree
5
4
Neither Agree nor Disagree
3
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Reverse scores
4
4
St. Paul University Philippines
Tuguegarao City, Cagayan 3500
10
5
Slightly Agree 5
3
6
Moderately Agree
6
7
Totally Agree
1
7
2
While Big Five personality will be utilized to identify
the personality types of the respondents.
Formula:
E= 20 + (1) - (6) + (11) - (16) + (21)- (26) + (31) - (36)
+ (41)- (46)
= _____
A = 14 - (2) + (7) - (12) + (17)
- (22) + (27) - (32) +
(37) + (42) + (47) = _____
C = 14 + (3) - (8) + (13) - (18) + (23) - (28)
+(33) -
(38) + (43)+ (48) ___ = _____
N = 38 - (4) + (9) - (14) + (19) - (24) - (29) - (34)
(39) - (44)
- (49)
= _____
O = 8 + (5) - (10) +(15) - (20)+ (25)
(40)
+ (45)
-
+ (50)
= _____
Wherein:
E= Extroversion
A = Agreeableness
C= Conscientiousness
N = Neuroticism
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- (30)
+ (35)
+
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Tuguegarao City, Cagayan 3500
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O= Openness to Experience
20, 14,38, 8 = Constants
(number) = Corresponded rating per item
Legend:
Scale
Interpretation
1
Disagree
2
Slightly Disagree
3
Neutral
4
Slightly Agree
5
Agree
Statistical Treatment
To enable the researchers to present and summarize the data
by the objectives of this study. The data yielded by the
questionnaire will be tallied, tabulated, and subjected to
statistical treatment to ensure their validity, reliability,
and interpretation. The following statistical treatment will be
used:
1.
Frequency,
percentage
distribution,
demographic profiles of the respondents.
Formula:
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ranking
for
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𝑓
𝑝 = 𝑥 100
𝑛
Where:
P= percentage
f = frequency
N = total number of respondents
4. ANOVA will be used to determine the difference in the extent
of personality types and the humor styles of the respondents
when grouped according to profile.
ANOVA coefficient, F= Mean sum of squares between the groups
(MSB)/ Mean squares of errors (MSE).
Therefore F = MSB/MSE where,
Mean squares between groups, MSB = SSB / (k – 1)
Mean squares of errors, MSE = SSE / (N – k)
And Total degrees of freedom, N – 1= df3
Degrees of freedom of errors, N – k = df2 here, N is the total
number of observations throughout k groups.
Degrees of freedom between groups, k – 1= df1, where k is the
number of groups.
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5. Pearson R, to measure the strength of the relationship
between two variables.
Formula :
Wherein :
r = Pearson correlation coefficient
𝑥𝑖 =
x variable samples
𝑦𝑖 = y variable sample
𝑥̅
= mean of value in x variable
𝑦̅
= mean of value in y variable
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