“Laughing Matters”: The Relationship between Humor and Self-Esteem in School-going Indian Children

Abstract

Humor is an appropriate tool for enhancing well-being in children through its impact on self-esteem. It is a comprehensive, complex and multi-dimensional construct. Humor affects psychological well-being and coping whereas self-esteem forms an important prelude to personality processes. Research has rarely focused on the relationship of humor styles and self-esteem in younger children. Keeping this in background, the present study aimed to explore the association between various humor styles and self esteem among school going students in India. A total of 100 participants from a school in Uttar Pradesh were selected through convenience sampling (52 girls, 48 boys). Appropriate informed consent was obtained from their parents. The participants were aged between 9-12 years and were studying in 5th, 6th and 7th grades belonging to the upper middle-class strata of the society. Humor Styles Questionnaire and Self-Esteem Inventory were used to collect data. Correlation and regression analyses were done. Gender differences in both the constructs were also studied. Analyses revealed that the relationship between overall humor styles and self esteem is not significant in both boys and girls. The use of aggressive humor is significantly related to self -esteem of girls. The findings imply that the use of adaptive humor styles should be encouraged as they foster self-esteem in the Indian children. The findings are discussed in the Indian socio-cultural context. Understanding the association between these two important constructs in younger children, will help parenting and also school-related interventions directed towards their personal growth. Humor is well-known to be a coping mechanism in distressing situations but possibly, it is yet to find a direct role on influencing self-esteem especially of young boys and girls. Systematic mixed-method studies are warranted in varied socio-cultural and ethnic populations.