The association between sense of humour and psychological well-being among undergraduates

Abstract

Several studies offer empirical support for the notion that sense of humour is positively related to psychological well-being. The current investigation was designed to explore the dimensionality of the sense of humour and its relationship with psychological well-being dimensions using a Nigerian sample. To do this, data were obtained from 189 (male = 119, female = 70) undergraduates (mean age = 20.64, SD of 2.63) with the use of two structured psychological tests, which included a multidimensional Psychological Well-Being scale (PWB-42) and Multidimensional Sense of Humour Scale (MSHS). Hierarchical Multiple Regression was utilised for data analyses. Mostly, dimensions of MSHS correlated positively with PWB sub scales. However, regression results indicated that attitude humour generally predict PWB sub scales compared to other humour dimensions. It was recommended that the dimensionality perspective should be taken into consideration when implementing therapy using humour in promoting well-being in both social and health contexts.