Validation of the Humor Styles Questionnaire: Correspondence between Humor Styles and Ratings of Specific Types of Jokes and the Effect of Participants' Social Settings on the Humor Style Preference

The current study examined the validity of the Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ) within the Lebanese society. The following hypotheses were tested: (1) Individuals' ratings of their style of humor on the HSQ correlates with the degree to which they liked the corresponding type of Lebanese culture-specific Abu el Abed jokes, and the likelihood of them telling the jokes to others. (2) The humor style ratings of Lebanese participants on a modified Humor Styles Questionnaire would differ depending on whether the statements referred to friends or to family members separately. Obtained results supported hypothesis one for the most part: individuals' scores on the HSQ correlated with the degree to which they liked the corresponding type of Abu el Abed jokes, for all three dimensions of humor: affiliative, self-enhancing, and hostile, but not the self-defeating style. On the other hand, correlations were significant for individuals' ratings on the HSQ and the likelihood of them telling the corresponding type of jokes to others for all four dimensions of humor: affiliative, self-enhancing, hostile, and self-defeating. Results offered partial support for hypothesis two, in that depending on whether the statements referred to friends or to family members, individuals' humor style rating differed significantly for the affiliative and self-enhancing, but not for the hostile and self-defeating style of humor. Results were interpreted in terms of findings reached in Martin et al.'s development and initial validation of the HSQ, as well as in terms of differences between individualist and collectivist cultures.