Keywords
self-defeating humor
humor styles
ontological security
self-attitude
self-worth
self-blame
self-esteem
false Self
Abstract
Introduction. Self-defeating humor is a person's humiliation of self through jokes or actions. Self-defeating humor is a common thing in interpersonal communication (offline) and in Internet communication (online) among young people. Humor is a mirror of self-attitude. We suggest that the preference for a self-defeating humor style is associated with a negative self-attitude, and it is an attempt to protect oneself with a "mask", including a "False Self", or with actual psychological problems. Purpose of the study is to identify the ontological predictors of the choice of a self- defeating humor style and to define its links with self-attitude and self-esteem. Methods. There were 174 respondents, the average age was 19.2 years. We used Humor Styles Questionnaire by R. Martin; psychometric method «Ontological security» by N.V. Kopteva; self-attitude test questionnaire by V. V. Stolin, S. R. Pantileev; Rosenberg's self-esteem scale (RSES) (Russian adaptation by A. A. Zolotareva); a questionnaire to specify how people use self-defeating humor in communication and behavior. We used correlation analysis and regression analysis to process the results. Results. Self-defeating humor has significant negative correlations with the general level of ontological security, self-worth and self-esteem. Self-defeating humor has significant positive correlations with the "False Self", internal conflict and self-blame. Regression analysis revealed that the first model with the variable "False Self" explains the variability of the use of self-defeating humor by 34.6%, the second model with the variable "False Self" and the variable of self-blame has a higher coefficient of determination and explains the variability of self-defeating humor by 37.4%. Discussion. The preferment of self-defeating humor style is affected by a low level of ontological security, negative self-attitude and low self-esteem. Self-defeating humor may indicate negative experiences associated with a lack of self-worth, self-condemnation, self-rejection, lack of inner support and connections with other people. Self-defeating humor through jokes or memes is a way to release of accumulated inner tension.
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