Humour as a coping style and its relationship to optimism and self-efficacy, well-being and mental health

Using humour as a coping style is widely regarded as protective of mental health and well-being, and dispositional optimism and self-efficacy have similar outcomes. This study compared the contribution of each of these attributes to well-being (as life satisfaction and psychological well-being) and mental health (as the absence of depression, anxiety, and stress). For the analyses, humour was measured by the Coping Humor Scale (CHS). A convenience sample of full-time employees (N=362) were recruited from diverse occupations to complete an online survey. The results showed that there were significant correlations between the variables in the expected directions, such that greater levels of dispositional optimism, self-efficacy and CHS were associated with greater levels of life satisfaction, psychological well-being and lower levels of depression, anxiety and stress. In the multiple regressions for each outcome, CHS was entered first and dispositional optimism and self-efficacy as the second step. Interestingly, whilst the CHS was initially a significant predictor of all the outcomes, the addition of dispositional optimism and self-efficacy mediated its effect. As such, greater dispositional optimism and self-efficacy, rather than CHS, were the significant predictors of increased life satisfaction and psychological well-being and lower levels of depression, stress and anxiety. The exception to complete mediation was the significant relationship between CHS and depression which remained in addition to the other significant predictors. In this sample of working adults, when humour is measured as coping with problems, it appears to be part of the larger range of actions used by an individual with higher levels of optimism and self-efficacy. However, humour remained an important coping strategy for individuals to alleviate any depressive symptoms that they may experience