Abstract
Chronic diseases lead to death, disability, and massive economic costs to the United States. Humor has been studied as a characteristic that may help or hinder individuals with chronic diseases. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between use of humor styles (i.e., affiliative, self-enhancing, aggressive, and self-defeating humor) and quality of life in individuals diagnosed with a chronic disease. A cross-sectional, correlational design was utilized to examine these relationships in a sample of participants (n = 194; mean age = 34.14, SD = 9.06; 56.7% male; 74.1% White/European American) who endorsed living with a chronic disease. Results indicated a significant positive linear relationship between self-enhancing humor and quality of life (r(194) = .41, p < .001). Results of a hierarchical multiple regression model, controlling for demographic and lifestyle variables, found approximately 32% of the total variation of quality of life was accounted for by the model (Adj. R2 = 0.28, F(10,179) = 8.336, p < .001). Higher income, greater self-enhancing humor, and less affiliative and self-defeating use of humor were associated with greater quality of life. Future research focused on better understanding of the use of humor as a coping strategy may help to decrease the burden of disease for individuals and society.