Campus Location

Abilene Campus (Residential)

Date of Award

5-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Psychology

Degree Name

Master of Science

Committee Chair or Primary Advisor

David Mosher

Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor

Cherisse Flanagan

Third Committee Member or Committee Reader

Richard Beck

Abstract

The usage of humor as a coping strategy is one that has been well-studied in the realm of psychology (Abel, 2002). However, research into the usage of dark humor as a coping mechanism, as well as dark humor expressed in memes, is not nearly as well-studied. This study (N = 50) replicated previous findings on humor and personality and expanded the research on self-directed humor and dark humor by comparing it to humor styles outlined by Martin et al. (2003) and Tsukawaki and Imura (2020). Replication results were mixed, with some findings supporting previous research between the Big Five personality traits and humor styles, while other relationships were non-significant. Predictions about dark humor were partially supported. Most individuals could distinguish between dark and light humor styles but reported minimal differences between the two regarding the meme’s impact on mood, offensiveness, or perceived humor. Despite this, the results showcased a strong positive correlation between dark humor endorsement and psychological distress (r = .51). I end by discussing the implications of the findings, limitations, and future directions of research.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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