Laughing Together Or Joking Laughing Together Or Joking Apart?Apart?

The Role of Humour Styles and Bullying in The Role of Humour Styles and Bullying in Children’s FriendshipsChildren’s Friendships

Siân E. Jones, Claire Fox, Simon Hunter, & Jon S. KennedySiân E. Jones, Claire Fox, Simon Hunter, & Jon S. KennedyEmail: s.e.jones@keele.ac.uk

Bullying in Schools Bullying in Schools

• Affects a large number of children (circa 20% at any time point; highest levels in UK vis-à-vis Europe, Analitis et al., 2009).

• It is linked with poor psychological adjustment, in the short- and long-term.

Bullying and Well-BeingBullying and Well-Being

Factors have been identified which appear to moderate the relationship between bullying and well-being , (e.g. friendship, Hodges et al., 1999).

Mediator variables have also been identified, (e.g. self blame, Graham & Juvonen, 1998).

Bullying and Humour?Bullying and Humour?

Humour can be used as a way of coping with threatening events (Martin, 2007).

At the individual level:Simon Hunter will talk on “Humour styles as moderators and mediators of the relationship between peer-victimisation and internalising” (Thursday, 10.20am).

At the group level:Could humour use serve as a moderator between friendship groups and the effects of bullying?

Humour Styles QuestionnairesHumour Styles Questionnaires• Four dimensions:

– Self-enhancing (e.g. ‘My humorous outlook on life keeps me from getting too upset or depressed about things’)

– Aggressive (e.g. ‘If someone makes a mistake I often tease them about it’)– Affiliative (e.g. ‘I enjoy making people laugh’)– Self-defeating (e.g. ‘I often try to make people like me or accept me more by

saying something funny about my own weaknesses, blunders or faults’)

• Data supports the reliability and validity of the HSQ (Martin et al, 2003; Martin, 2007).

• The Child HSQ (Fox, Dean & Lyford, in press) has 24 items.– Four point response format, strongly disagree to strongly agree– Acceptable levels of reliability with 11-16 year olds and clear four-factor

structure

Research MethodologyResearch MethodologyPart of the ESRC Humour and Bullying Research Project.

Sample of 1 241 UK children, aged 11-13 years (M = 11.68 years, SD = 0.64 years, 612 male, 93% white).

Children completed the Child Humour Styles Questionnaire (Fox, Dean, & Lyford, in press).

Children also completed:• A four-item, self-report Loneliness and Social Satisfaction scale (Asher, Hymel & Renshaw, 1984), • Children’s Depression Inventory – short form (Kovacs, & Beck, 1977), • Rosenberg’s (1965) self-esteem measure. 6

Research MethodologyResearch Methodology

Children were asked to nominate a best friend, and their friends, in the class, and to give each classmate a rating from 1 “dislike very much”, to 5 “like very much”.

Children nominated classmates according to their involvement in bullying (limited to three nominations).

7

HypothesesHypotheses

8

Self-EsteemSelf-Esteem

Depressive SymptomsDepressive Symptoms

LonelinessLoneliness

Humour Style Use

Well-BeingWell-Being

Well-BeingWell-Being

Victimisation in Friendship Groups

Victimisation in Friendship Groups

Defenders in Friendship GroupsDefenders in Friendship Groups

Friendship GroupsFriendship Groups

9

Based on Baines & Blatchford (2009)

A core is defined as a set of children each of

whom reciprocally nominates at least two others in

the core (or one, if there is only one other) as a

friend or best friend, and reciprocally gives at least

one of those a peer acceptance rating of 5 (“like

very much”).

CorrelationsCorrelations

10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1. SR Self-Enhancing Humour 2. SR Affiliative Humour

.355

3. SR Self-Defeating Humour .088 -.162

4. SR Aggressive Humour.029 .126 .145

5. PN Verbal Victimisation-.082 -.188 .158 .007

6. PN Physical Victimisation-.096 -.124 .079 .046 .609

7. PN Social Victimisation-.094 -.179 .138 .000 .774 .639

8. Child Depression Inventory -.226 -.312 .398 -.015 .233 .124 .221

9. Self-reported loneliness scale -.151 -.330 .390 -.067 .234 .145 .267 .719

10. Self-reported self-esteem scale .235 .317 -.421 -.062 -.127 -.066 -.138 -.714 -.607

11. Defenders in Cores.022 .043 .033 -.054 .069 .091 .103 -.013 -.017 .044

12. Victims in Cores.022 -.043 .094 -.045 .153 .141 .177 .150 .078 -.101 -.080

Well Being and Victimisation in CoresWell Being and Victimisation in CoresThere was a significant association between self-esteem and presence of victims in member cores (and depression and presence of victims in member cores) moderated by affiliative humour.

Depressive symptoms, F(3, 576) = 25.85, p < .001, B = 8.32 p<.001.

Self-esteem, F(3, 599) = 27.54, p = .001, B = -.13.38, p<.001.

11

Self-Esteem Depressive Symptoms

Well Being and Defenders in CoresWell Being and Defenders in CoresThere was a significant association between self-esteem and presence of defenders in children’s cores, moderated by self-enhancing humour, F(3, 603) = 18.92, p = .001, B = 2.98, p=.05.

12

Self-Esteem

Well Being and Defenders in CoresWell Being and Defenders in CoresThere was a significant association between victimisation and depression , moderated by the presence of defenders in children’s member cores.

Social victimisation, F(3, 595) = 13.66, p < .001, B = -.201, p=.005. Physical victimisation, F(3, 595) = 5.40, p = .001, B = -.282, p=.006). No association for verbal victimisation.

13

Social Victimisation Physical Victimisation

SummarySummaryChildren’s well-being is related to their peer-nominated involvement in bullying, their friendship group memberships and humour use.

Affiliative humour moderates the association between belonging to a core where there is high victimisation and self esteem (also depression). The association between the presence of a defender in participants’ cores and self-esteem was moderated by the participants’ self-enhancing humour. The presence of a defender in participants’ cores moderated the association between victimisation and depressive symptomatology.

14

To all the children who took part, and the parents and teachers who allowed them to do so.

To you for listening

http://esrcbullyingandhumourproject.wordpress.com/

Twitter @Humour_Bullying

Email: s.e.jones@keele.ac.uk or c.fox@keele.ac.uk

Thank you

Hayley Gilman Lucy James Sirandou Saidy Khan Becky Hale Rebecca Serella

15