Laughing at oneself is actually good for you

A study has recently found that people who frequently crack jokes about themselves have greater levels of psychological well being.

The findings, published in the journal ‘personality and individual differences’ contradict some of the earlier research in the psychology of humour that suggested self defeating humour was exclusively associated with negative psychological effects.

In particular, we have observed that a greater tendency to employ self defeating humour is indicative of high scores in psychological well being dimensions such as happiness, and to a lesser extent sociability.

The results, as well as being consistent with the positive connotations traditionally attributed to the act of laughing at oneself in our country, also suggest that the effects of self defeating humour in well being may differ depending on where the research takes places.

Consequently we believe it is necessary to conduct new studies aimed at analysing potential cultural differences in the use of this kind of humour the researcher added.