Couples Who Laugh Together A Coorientation Approach to Positive Humor Use in Relationships

Abstract

This investigation of public and private positive humor use in long-term relationships suggests that the value of humor depends upon where it is used and who uses it. For men, relational satisfaction is positively associated with positive humor use in private, but negatively associated with positive humor use in public. For women, humor use is unrelated to relational satisfaction. For men and women, greater perceived use of positive humor in private by one’s partner is positively related to humor’s importance. For women, greater perceived use of humor in public is negatively related to humor’s importance.