There seems to be general agreement, among humor researchers and laypersons alike, that there is considerable variability across individuals in the degree to which they possess a sense of humor. There is also general agreement that a sense of humor is a highly desirable trait to possess. As the American essayist Frank Moore Colby observed, "Men will confess to treason, murder, arson, false teet...

This research assessed the extent to which humor moderates the relationship between retirement stress, including hassles, and health. Two hundred sixty-five retirees over the age of 55 years responded to an on-line survey, completing the RAND 36-Item Health Survey and the Humor Styles Questionnaire. Stress was measured using the Self Perceived Stress in Retirement Scale and The Hassles Scale. T...

Basic personality traits (e.g., extraversion) have been found to be associated with the humor styles that individuals employ. In the present study, we were interested in determining whether pathological personality traits were also associated with humor styles. We examined the associations between the pathological personality traits captured by the Personality Inventory for the DSM-5 (PID-5) an...

Both men and women prefer someone with a bgood sense of humorQ as a relationship partner. However, two recent studies have shown that men are not attracted to funny women, suggesting the sexes use the phrase good sense of humor differently. To investigate this question, we measured the importance participants placed on a partner’s production of humor vs. receptivity to their own humor. Men emph...

BACKGROUND In contrast with an early implicit "facilitative hypothesis" of humor, a revised specificity hypothesis predicts that the benefits of humor depend on the specific style of humor used. Information on predictors of these humor styles in turn enhances the ability to predict the effect on well-being. METHODS We examined the relationships between interpersonal competence, self-esteem, a...

Glaucoma is a family of optic neuropathies which cause irreversible but potentially preventable vision loss. Vision loss in most forms of glaucoma is related to elevated IOP with subsequent injury to the optic nerve. Secretion of aqueous humor and regulation of its outflow are physiologically important processes for maintaining IOP in the normal range. Thus, understanding the complex mechanisms...

Articles in both the lay and professional literature have extolled the virtues of humor, many giving the impression that the health benefits of humor are well documented by the scientific and medical community. The concept that humor or laughter can be therapeutic goes back to biblical times and this belief has received varying levels of support from the scientific community at different points...

.he ability of the cardiac glycosides, ouabain and digoxin, to lower eye pressure-' '' '-• has been ascribed to a primary inhibition of aqueous humor inflow. In the cat, which is the experimental animal of this study, the effect of ouabain on aqueous humor inflow is not clear. The previous report, which indicated that aqueous humor formation of the cat was decreased by ouabain, was based upon r...

Activated complement is an important mediator of inflammation. Radioimmunoassay was used to measure levels of C3a, an activated fragment of C3, in aqueous humor. Additionally, immunoelectrophoresis was performed on aqueous humor to detect Factor B and its conversion product, Bb, as well as C3c, a breakdown product of C3. All six samples of normal aqueous humor had no detectable C3a, C3c, or Fac...