The current study was designed to test the theory that daily exposure to humorous material would reduce depressive symptoms. Thirty-eight undergraduate students endorsing depressive symptoms were randomly assigned to either a humor or comparison group. Dependent variables were scores on the Beck Depression Inventory, the Social Activities Scale from the Interpersonal Events Schedule, and the Positive and Negative Daily Affect Schedule. The humor group intervention consisted of take-home videotaped recordings of humorous materials. The comparison group intervention consisted of take-home video taped recordings of educational materials with motivational themes. Results indicated that subjects in both groups exhibited significant reductions in depressive symptoms. However, subjects in the humor group showed significant increases in social activities and daily affectual gains, while the comparison group subjects showed no such changes. Plausible reasons for the current findings as well as implications are discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTAHS/oai:digitalcommons.usu.edu:etd-7224 |
| Date | 01 May 2001 |
| Creators | Goodson, Jason Talley |
| Publisher | DigitalCommons@USU |
| Source Sets | Utah State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | All Graduate Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Copyright for this work is held by the author. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information contact digitalcommons@usu.edu. |
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