Introduction
The first article examined focuses on the connection between humor and psychopathic and narcissistic tendencies. One research study explicitly explores how humor styles connect to psychopathy subfactors (Lobbestael & Freund, 2021). In a non-clinical male sample, a quantitative study using self-report measures was conducted. Psychopathic individuals’ interpersonal styles are heavily influenced by humor. This research indicates that psychopathic tendencies could be reduced by altering humor styles.
Psychopathy is distinguished by emotional dysfunction and antisocial conduct. One of the aims is to determine how two variables correlate: psychopathy subfactors and humor. The sample N = 177 male volunteers were recruited at Maastricht University for the study (Lobbestael & Freund, 2021). The average age ranged from 18 to 68 years, with a standard deviation of 12.56. Because males exhibit greater psychopathic characteristics than females, only males were included to minimize confusing gender or floor effects. The 32-item Humor Style Questionnaire (HSQ) was used to assess “affiliative, self-enhancing, self-defeating, and aggressive” humor types (Lobbestael & Freund, 2021, para. 7). Hence, the 154-item PPI-R, which is scored on a four-point Likert scale, was employed to measure psychopathic tendencies.
Except for PPI-R-Cold, affiliative humor was positively linked with other psychopathic characteristics. PPI-R-total and PPI-R-FD were both strongly linked with self-enhancing humor. PPI-R-SCI was favorably connected with self-defeating humor, whereas PPI-R-Cold was negatively correlated. Aggressive humor had a strong positive relationship with PPI-R-total and PPI-R-SCI. Total psychopathy scores were shown to be positively and moderately related to affiliation, self-enhancing, and aggressive humor. This link was driven by the psychopathy subfactor of self-centered impulsivity, reflecting unconstrained antisocial conduct. The findings demonstrate that the psychopathic personality characteristics may not be adequately associated with using aggressive humor on their own but that a lack of self-control may trigger its usage. This empirical article was the first study to uncover strong evidence for a link between psychopathy and affiliative humor.
Physical Exercise and Depression
The second selected article examines the effect of physical activity on pre-adolescent anxiety and depression symptoms. The summary includes two particular variables: exercise and depression. The research involves a quantitative examination of twenty-seven randomly selected pre-adolescents aged 9-11, all of whom had completed primary school (Philippot et al., 2019). Depression symptoms were reduced in a non-clinical group of pre-adolescents who participated in a low-to-moderate exercise program, according to the study.
Participants were selected voluntarily from a primary school, and the study was discussed in classrooms. Before beginning the study, all parents submitted a medical questionnaire. The research was conducted in the elementary school Parmentier-Jean XXIII in Brussels and its amenities (Philippot et al., 2019). The CDI II was used as a statistical analysis to assess variation in depression among teenagers getting physical exercise therapy. Because specific measures depended on Likert values, the normality distribution was assessed using a graphical tool (quantile-quantile plot) and a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (Philippot et al., 2019). If the data was not normal, a logarithmic transformation was used. SPSS software was employed for all statistical procedures and measures.
Conclusion
The researchers discovered that CDI (self-report scale for depression) ratings in the LMIG improved considerably over time. Integrating low- to moderate-intensity exercise with interaction and games reduces depression symptoms. The first limitation is the extremely varied group regarding depressive symptoms; it was not a clinical sample (Philippot et al., 2019). Another possible issue is that the authors cannot exclude the possibility that participants in one group were aware of what their counterparts in the other group were doing. Despite this, they made every effort to prevent mutual influence. The multiple surveys were employed in a random order to avoid outside influence.
References
Lobbestael, J., & Freund, V. L. (2021). Humor in dark personalities: An empirical study on the link between four humor styles and the distinct subfactors of psychopathy and narcissism. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 548450. Web.
Philippot, A., Meerschaut, A., Danneaux, L., Smal, G., Bleyenheuft, Y., & De Volder, A. G. (2019). Impact of physical exercise on symptoms of depression and anxiety in pre-adolescents: A pilot randomized trial. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1820. Web.