Behind the Laughs: The Relationship between Narcissism and Humor Styles in an Individualistic Culture

Abstract

One hundred and ten college students from general education and general Psychology classes completed measures of narcissism, humor styles, and a 20-item humor appreciation survey online. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the past results (e.g., Besser & Zeigler-Hill, 2011) could be replicated in an individualistic culture. Results showed similar results, with grandiose narcissism having a positive correlation with adaptive humor styles, and vulnerable narcissism having a negative correlation with maladaptive humor styles but a positive correlation with aggressive forms of humor. I discuss implications of these findings and the relationship between narcissistic traits and humor styles.