Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Humor And Social Support: An Investigation Of The Influence Of Humor On Evaluations Of Supportive Messages, Miranda Rachel Morgan

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this thesis study was to discover whether person-centered supportive messages utilizing affiliative humor were more likely to create positive outcomes than supportive messages that did not utilize these strategies. Receiving high quality social support when distressed has been associated with numerous positive outcomes. Research explaining different factors which influence supportive message outcomes can aid both laypersons and practitioners attempting to provide support to distressed individuals. To this end, this examination sought to explore whether the addition of affiliative humor can enhance the effectiveness of supportive messages. Three hypotheses were tested using a 2(scenario: academic, housing) x 2(person-centeredness: …