Studies show that what makes you laugh is sometimes no laughing matter.

“It goes without saying that having a good sense of humor is a desirable quality. It also can serve as a window into one’s true personality, for better or worse. Have you wondered if you or someone around you might have a particularly unhealthy sense of humor? Here are three indicators suggested by recent studies that may help you figure it out.

1. Low self-esteem as a result of self-deprecation

Psychologist Chloe Lau of Western University Canada explains that an extremely self-defeating style of humor can be maladaptive. “Maladaptive humor styles are positively associated with negative psychological outcomes, including spitefulness, loneliness, sub-clinical psychopathy and Machiavellianism, and parental rejection,” she explains. According to her, in the context of coping, self-defeating humor may provide denial and escape from underlying negative feelings. In the end, it will simply make you feel bad about yourself.

2. Dark humor may point to a dark personality

A recent study examined the humor preferences of dark personalities. The research focused on eight types of humor, which can be broken into two categories:

• Lighter styles of humor, e.g., fun, humor, nonsense, and wit

• Darker styles of humor, e.g., irony, satire, sarcasm, and cynicism

The study found that people high on Machiavellianism and psychopathy gravitated toward the darker forms of humor like irony and mockery while people high on narcissism used lighter styles but in a self-serving manner (e.g., to inflate their own importance). While the study is correlational, psychologist Alberto Dionigi speculates that people with dark personality traits may use their sense of humor in the following ways:

• Machiavellians, being unscrupulous and intimidating, may use humor as a means of manipulating others

• Psychopaths may use emotionally inconsiderate humor to lower others’ statuses as they are characterized by deficits in emotional functioning and antisocial behavior

• Narcissists tend to use more positive humor as a way to improve their own reputations when interacting with others.

3. Finding violence funny shows moral disengagement

Violent shows and games are all over popular media and are enjoyed by many. But what if someone finds the use of gratuitous gore and bloodshed especially funny? A recent study suggests that they may have a high level of moral disengagement and desensitization (as well as several other dark traits). This could mean that they can turn off their moral standards to avoid the consequences of their own immoral behavior, such as guilt or shame. Interestingly, shifting from shows and games with extreme violence to superhero themes may not solve this issue. This is because these supposedly prosocial themes in which the hero destroys the enemy, are actually harmful — at least to the extent that they teach that physical violence is an appropriate response to an interpersonal dispute.

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Reflection: Do you believe that lighter humor is generally more socially acceptable to use in society than dark humor since dark humor is associated with narcists and psychopaths? Do you believe that dark humor is needed in some situations?

#LightHumor #Darkhumor #Violence #Self-esteem