Vishal Sharma and Hardeep Joshi
Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra
Positive humor styles are the predictor of good mental health as several studies have
shown this. Individuals during their adolescent phase interact with others and want to
be part of a group. They also evaluate themselves as well as others, and their situations
or events as good or bad. For this, they use humor during their interaction with others,
evaluating their situations or events. The kind of humor adolescents use affects their
mental health. This research conducted on adolescents investigated whether forgiveness
mediates between humor styles and mental health. A total of 424 participants filled
out the Humor Styles Questionnaire, Heartland forgiveness scale, and Mental health
inventory. The sample includes 219 males and 205 females and their ages fall from 13
to 19 years. The data obtained were then analyzed by the bootstrapping method. The
results of the current investigation indicate that positive humor styles correlate positively
with forgiveness and mental health whereas negative humor styles correlate negatively
with forgiveness and mental health. Moreover, forgiveness correlates positively with
mental health. The mediational analyses show that forgiveness mediates association
between (i) Affiliative humor style and mental health (B= 0.16, BootSE= 0.07, 95% CI
[0.03,0.32]); (ii) between Aggressive humor style and mental health (B= -1.31, BootSE=
0.091, 95% CI [-0.51, -0.15]); and (iii) between Self-enhancing humor style and mental
health (B=0.16, BootSE= 0.072, 95% CI [0.03, 0.31]). However, no substantial indirect
effect of the forgiveness mediator was discovered between self-defeating humor style
and mental health (B= -0.109, BootSE= 0.073, 95% CI [-0.26, 0.03]). Based on these
outcomes, it is concluded that fostering positive humor in prevention and intervention
programs will improve adolescents’ ability to forgive and thereby enhance their good
mental health..