Analysis

The Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ) was developed by Rod Martin, Patricia Puhlik-Doris, Gwen Larsen, Jeanette Gray, and Kelly Weir in 2003 to assess the different ways in which people use humor in their daily lives. This scale includes four dimensions of humor: self-enhancing, affiliative, aggressive, and self-defeating.

Purpose

The main purpose of the HSQ is to examine how people use humor to strengthen relationships, cope with stress, harm or belittle others, and devalue themselves. This tool helps in understanding both the positive and negative effects of humor on social relationships and mental health.

Scoring

The HSQ consists of 32 statements, which are divided among the four humor dimensions. Participants rate each statement using a 7-point Likert scale, from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Each dimension includes 8 statements, and scores for each dimension range from 8 to 56. Higher scores in each dimension indicate a stronger tendency toward that particular humor style.

References

Martin, R. A., Puhlik-Doris, P., Larsen, G., Gray, J., & Weir, K. (2003). Individual differences in uses of humor and their relation to psychological well-being: Development of the Humor Styles Questionnaire. Journal of Research in Personality, 37(1), 48–75. DOI: 10.1016/S0092-6566(02)00534-2
Martin, R. A. (2007). The Psychology of Humor: An Integrative Approach. Academic Press.
Heintz, S., & Ruch, W. (2019). From four to nine styles: An update on individual differences in humor. Personality and Individual Differences, 141, 7–12. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2018.12.008