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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 studies have mostly focused on the negative elements of self-directed humor (SDH) in well-being and measured their individual differences. Tsukawaki and Imura Personality and Individual Differences, 157, (2020) developed the Dual Self-Directed Humor Scale (DSDHS), which is the first scale to measure individual differences in SDH across two dimensions, negative (Deleterious SDH) and positive (Benign SDH). Although the DSDHS has provided promising initial evidence of validity and reliability, its psychometric properties need further investigation. Our first objective was to investigate the relationship between the two dimensions of the DSDHS and the Big Five personality characteristics, and to establish construct validity. Our second objective was to verify the incremental validity of the DSDHS and in using the Big Five and four humor styles as comparison criteria, we tested whether the DSDHS could account for additional variance in well-being prediction, even when they were controlled for. The results show a discriminatory correlation between the two dimensions of the DSDHS and the Big Five, verifying the construct validity. Moreover, two dimensions of the DSDHS were found to explain further variations in well-being, even after controlling for the Big Five or four humor styles, showing incremental validity. Further evidence on validity of the DSDHS was provided.

This study investigated the relationship between types of humor (aggressive humor and affinity humor) of homeroom teachers, as recognized by their students, and five domains of class climate (mutual respect among the students, discipline, willingness, enjoyment, and resistance). The participants included a total of 500 students – 250 primary school students (fourth to sixth grade) and 250 secondary school students (seventh to ninth grade) in Japan. The students answered questions about their homeroom teacher’s type of humor and the climate of their class using a self-report scale. We labeled five variables of class climate as dependent variables, and two types of teachers’ humor as independent variables, and conducted a hierarchal multiple regression analysis with two steps. Findings showed that aggressive humor had a significant negative correlation to all positive class climates, and a significant positive correlation to negative class climates. Affinity humor indicated a significant correlation in the exact opposite manner to the above findings. Furthermore, the interaction effect of the two types of teachers’ humor was insignificant for every variable of class climate. The findings indicated that an ideal class climate could be created if teachers refrained as much as possible from using aggressive humor and used affinity humor.

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.

Instructional humor processing theory has been proposed to explain how the type of humor used by the course instructor can affect student learning. In this study, a cross-sectional design was used to test whether the relation between the instructor’s type of humor (related, unrelated, self-disparaging, offensive, and disparaging humor), and learning is mediated by variables assumed by the instructional humor processing theory (emotion, motivation, and information-processing ability). A total of 360 university and junior college students with a mean age of 19.31 years (standard deviation = 0.75) completed a questionnaire concerning their impression on the instructor humor, emotion, motivation, processing ability, and cognitive learning in a specific course. The results revealed that the instructor’s-related humor significantly predicted the cognitive learning of students, and their relation can be mediated by all variables assumed by instructional humor processing theory. Our results provided preliminary evidence for the legitimacy of the instructional humor processing theory model.

The aim of the present study was to determine whether two types of teacher humor (Aggressive Humor and Affinity Humor) are predictors of students’ mental health. A self-report scale was administered to 500 elementary and junior high school students in grades 4 to 9 (mean age 12.04, SD = 1.76) asking questions about perceived teacher humor, stress response, emotional well-being, and self-esteem. Aggressive humor was a significant positive predictor of stress response and a significant negative predictor of emotional well-being. Affinity humor was a significant positive predictor of emotional well-being and self-esteem. These results suggest that the teacher’s humor is related to students’ mental health. We conclude that teachers should refrain from using aggressive humor as much as possible in favor of affinity humor.

This article discusses the development and initial validation of the Dual Self-Directed Humor Scale (DSDHS), the first instrument to evaluate individual differences in the two dimensions of self-directed humor (SDH). The DSDHS assumes two distinct dimensions: Deleterious SDH and Benign SDH. While the former is potentially harmful to well-being, the latter is potentially beneficial. By employing 400 participants in Study 1, the validity of the two-factor model of the DSDHS was demonstrated. In Study 2, which included 446 participants, evidence for concurrent validity was shown by correlating the DSDHS with other humor measures. The construct validity was also evaluated by correlating the DSDHS with a broad range of psychosocial well-being indices. While Deleterious SDH was negatively correlated with adaptive indices (self-esteem, happiness, perceived general health, and social support) and positively correlated with maladaptive indices (trait anxiety, depression, aggression, and loneliness), the correlation pattern of Benign SDH was the opposite, thereby providing evidence for construct validity. Study 3 included 136 participants and showed a positive correlation between self- and peer-rated scores for Deleterious SDH and Benign SDH, providing evidence for the DSDHS's convergent validity. In essence, these results provide strong initial evidence for the reliability and validity of the DSDHS.

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.

A novel process of BaTiO3 manufacture was conducted by using supercritical water. Preparation of BaTiO3 nanoparticles was investigated from decomposition of BaTiO(C2O4)2•4H2O (BTOT) with aid of supercritical water for the first time. When BTOT was exposed to supercritical water around 673 K and 30 MPa, it decomposed quickly in 5-22 seconds. The products formed strongly reply on environmental conditions. BaCO3 and TiO2 were always observed as the products in the absence of alkaline additives. BaTiO3 nanoparticles with specific surface area as high as 12~14 m2/g were able to be obtained under strong alkaline conditions, such as NaOH/COSubscript text2=2/1. It was found that environment of supercritical water was better than sub-critical conditions to obtain high quality BaTiO3 particles with fewer defects. Employment of supercritical water significantly reduced the reaction time and temperature compared to other BaTiO3 manufacture processes utilizing BTOT as precursor.

A novel two-step batch process was invented to prepare BaTiO 3 ceramic nanoparticles of high quality in supercritical fluids. Firstly, reactants were heated up in a proper organic solvent until target temperature and pressure were reached. Secondly, water was injected into the above organic solvent to form a supercritical mixing solvent. After a certain period of treatment in the supercritical state, BaTiO 3 nanoparticles of 30–50 nm were able to be obtained in the batch reactor. The nanoparticles obtained this way showed higher density and enhanced tetragonality compared to the nanoparticles with same size prepared by hydrothermal synthesis. Possible mechanism was discussed.