Humor and Life Stress: Antidote to Adversity

1 Theoretical Approaches to the Study of the Sense of Humor.- Arousal Theories.- Incongruity Theories.- Superiority Theories.- Conclusion.- 2 Questionnaire Approaches to the Assessment of the Sense of Humor.- The Sense of Humor Questionnaire.- The Situational Humor Response Questionnaire.- The Coping Humor Scale.- Conclusion.- 3 Validational Studies of the Sense of Humor Questionnaires.- Validity Study 1.- Validity Study 2.- Validity Study 3.- Validity Study 4.- Validity Study 5.- General Discussion.- 4 Sense of Humor as a Moderator of Life Stress.- Life Stress.- Humor as a Stress Moderator.- Study 1.- Study 2.- Study 3.- Conclusions.- 5 Experimental Studies of Humor in a Stressful Laboratory Situation.- Study 1.- Study 2.- General Discussion.- 6 Humor and the Sense of Mastery.- Study 1.- Study 2.- Study 3.- Additional Observations.- Conclusions.- 7 Sense of Humor and the Coping Process in Marriage.- Method and Procedure.- Results.- Discussion.- 8 Sense of Humor and Coping With Physical Disability.- Method and Procedure.- Results.- Discussion.- 9 An Overview.- References.- Author Index.