Attitudes toward mental disorders, humor styles, and quality of life in adolescents involved in the “Mind the Mind” project

Emilia Oprisan; Veronica Jardan; Maria-Mihaela Stanca Stanca; Theodora-Andra  Suciu

doi:10.56663/rop.v14i1.88

Authors

Emilia Oprisan Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Bucharest https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5072-0872
Veronica Jardan Sociologist, Founding Member of Association of Certified Psychologists of Romania
Maria-Mihaela Stanca Stanca Psychologist, Private Practice, Brașov, Romania
Theodora-Andra Suciu Master’s Student, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Transilvania University, Brașov

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56663/rop.v14i1.88

Keywords:

stigmatization, mental disorders, affiliative humor, aggressive humor, quality of life, prosocial attitudes

Abstract

The present study investigated the relationships between students’ attitudes toward individuals with mental disorders, humor styles used as coping mechanisms, and quality of life.
A correlational-comparative quantitative design was applied to a sample of 293 students aged 15 to 17 from two high schools in Brașov. The instruments used were the CAMI Scale for assessing attitudes toward individuals with mental disorders (Taylor & Dear, 1981), the HSQ Scale for humor styles (Martin et al., 2003), and a self-developed scale for quality of life. Exploratory factor analyses confirmed the structure of the three scales, and Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients indicated adequate internal consistency (α ranging from .52 to .78).
Results showed that affiliative humor was positively correlated with quality of life, whereas aggressive and self-defeating humor were negative predictors. Social restrictiveness and authoritarianism were significant predictors of aggressive humor, which in turn was negatively associated with benevolence. Gender differences analysis revealed that males scored higher on authoritarianism, social restrictiveness, and aggressive and self-defeating humor, while females scored higher on benevolence. Differences between school profiles indicated higher benevolence scores among students from Science College compared to those from Technical College.
The study supports the hypothesis that humor styles and attitudes toward individuals with mental disorders are interconnected and influence students’ quality of life. Affiliative humor emerges as a protective factor for psychological well-being, while aggressive and self-defeating humor represent risk factors associated with authoritarian and restrictive attitudes and lower benevolence. The findings highlight the importance of educational and socio-emotional interventions that promote positive humor styles and prosocial attitudes to reduce stigmatization and increase the social inclusion of individuals with mental disorders.

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