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The isolation that people of many nations have experienced during lockdown periods to prevent the spread of COVID-19 may adversely affect their mental health. In this study we examined whether humor moderates the relationship between extent of self-isolation and the depressive symptoms that people experience when locked down. Participants were 400 Japanese adults aged between 21 and 69 years, who completed the Humor Styles Questionnaire and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale in addition to responding to a question to establish the extent of their self-isolation. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis results indicate that affiliative humor moderated the relationship between the degree of self-isolation and depression, and attenuated their association. In contrast, aggressive humor strengthened their association. Our study findings suggest that affiliative humor served to safeguard people from suffering from depression induced by self-isolation during lockdown, whereas aggressive humor increased the likelihood of people becoming depressed during lockdown.

Previous research on individual social class (SC) and humor has found support for the hypothesis that those with higher SC engage in dominant and selfish humor (aggressive humor). This hypothesis is based on the well-known theory that people with high SC are selfish, but there are mixed findings regarding this theoretical perspective. In this study, SC was measured by objective measures (income and educational attainment) and subjective measures (perceived social status) and examined in relation to humor. Previous research on SC and humor has been limited, focusing only on the limited dimensions of humor (aggressive and affiliative humor). In the present study, four types of humor assessed by the Humor Styles Questionnaire and two types of humor measured by the Dual Self-Directed Humor Scale were taken into account to learn more about the relationship between SC and humor. Study 1 (N = 344) and Study 2 (N = 604) consistently showed that SC and aggressive humor are not related, and the findings of previous studies were not replicated. Rather, SC was shown to be positively associated with adaptive humor, such as other-oriented humor and humor for coping with stress.

We developed a scale to measure time management and assessed its reliability and validity. We then used this scale to examine the impact of time management on psychological stress response. In Study 1-1, we developed the scale and assessed its internal consistency and criterion-related validity. Findings from a factor analysis revealed three elements of time management, “time estimation,” “time utilization,” and “taking each moment as it comes.” In Study 1-2, we assessed the scale’s test-retest reliability. In Study 1-3, we assessed the validity of the constructed scale. The results indicate that the time management scale has good reliability and validity. In Study 2, we performed a covariance structural analysis to verify our model that hypothesized that time management influences perceived control of time and psychological stress response, and perceived control of time influences psychological stress response. The results showed that time estimation increases the perceived control of time, which in turn decreases stress response. However, we also found that taking each moment as it comes reduces perceived control of time, which in turn increases stress response.

We explored the relationship between four types of forced laughter (expression control, intimacy maintenance, action control, and affect manipulation) and mental health as well as the mediating effects of social support and self-concept clarity. The Forced Laughter Scale (FLS), General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MPSS), and Self-Concept Clarity Scale (SCC) were completed by 184 (63 male, 119 female) Japanese university students. The results of investigating the relationships between the four types of forced laughter and mental health demonstrated that expression control had a negative correlation with mental health, while intimacy maintenance had a positive correlation. Affect manipulation and action control did not demonstrate significant correlations. Mediation analysis revealed that the negative correlation between expression control and mental health can be explained by a low level of perceived social support and self-concept clarity. Conversely, it was revealed that the positive correlation between intimacy maintenance and mental health can be explained by a high level of perceived social support. This study found that forced laughter in daily life can have both positive and negative correlations with mental health depending on the situation in which one forces a laugh and their intention for doing so.