Laughing Together Or Joking Apart?

Laughing Together Or Joking Apart? The Role of Humour Styles and Bullying in Children’s Friendships Siân E. Jones, Claire Fox, Simon Hunter, & Jon S. Kennedy Email: s.e.jones@keele.ac.uk

Bullying in Schools • Affects a large number of children (circa 20% at any time point; highest levels in UK vis-à-vis Europe, Analitis et al., 2009). • It is linked with poor psychological adjustment, in the short- and long-term.

Bullying and Well-Being Factors have been identified which appear to moderate the relationship between bullying and well-being , (e.g. friendship, Hodges et al., 1999). Mediator variables have also been identified, (e.g. self blame, Graham & Juvonen, 1998).

Bullying and Humour? Humour can be used as a way of coping with threatening events (Martin, 2007). At the individual level: Simon Hunter will talk on “Humour styles as moderators and mediators of the relationship between peer-victimisation and internalising” (Thursday, 10.20am). At the group level: Could humour use serve as a moderator between friendship groups and the effects of bullying?

Humour Styles Questionnaires • Four dimensions: • Self-enhancing (e.g. ‘My humorous outlook on life keeps me from getting too upset or depressed about things’) • Aggressive (e.g. ‘If someone makes a mistake I often tease them about it’) • Affiliative (e.g. ‘I enjoy making people laugh’) • Self-defeating (e.g. ‘I often try to make people like me or accept me more by saying something funny about my own weaknesses, blunders or faults’) • Data supports the reliability and validity of the HSQ (Martin et al, 2003; Martin, 2007). • The Child HSQ (Fox, Dean & Lyford, in press) has 24 items. • Four point response format, strongly disagree to strongly agree • Acceptable levels of reliability with 11-16 year olds and clear four-factor structure

Research Methodology • Part of the ESRC Humour and Bullying Research Project. • Sample of 1 241 UK children, aged 11-13 years (M = 11.68 years, SD = 0.64 years, 612 male, 93% white). • Children completed the Child Humour Styles Questionnaire (Fox, Dean, & Lyford, in press). • Children also completed: • A four-item, self-report Loneliness and Social Satisfaction scale (Asher, Hymel & Renshaw, 1984), • Children’s Depression Inventory – short form (Kovacs, & Beck, 1977), • Rosenberg’s (1965) self-esteem measure.

Research Methodology • Children were asked to nominate a best friend, and their friends, in the class, and to give each classmate a rating from 1 “dislike very much”, to 5 “like very much”. • Children nominated classmates according to their involvement in bullying (limited to three nominations).

Hypotheses Humour Style Use Victimisation in Friendship Groups Well-Being Depressive Symptoms Self-Esteem Loneliness Well-Being Defenders in Friendship Groups

Friendship Groups Based on Baines & Blatchford (2009) A core is defined as a set of children each of whom reciprocally nominates at least two others in the core (or one, if there is only one other) as a friend or best friend, and reciprocally gives at least one of those a peer acceptance rating of 5 (“like very much”).

Correlations

Well Being and Victimisation in Cores There was a significant association between self-esteem and presence of victims in member cores (and depression and presence of victims in member cores) moderated by affiliative humour. Depressive symptoms, F(3, 576) = 25.85, p < .001, B = 8.32 p<.001. Self-esteem, F(3, 599) = 27.54, p = .001, B = -.13.38, p<.001. Depressive Symptoms Self-Esteem

Well Being and Defenders in Cores There was a significant association between self-esteem and presence of defenders in children’s cores, moderated by self-enhancing humour, F(3, 603) = 18.92, p = .001, B = 2.98, p=.05. Self-Esteem

Well Being and Defenders in Cores There was a significant association between victimisation and depression , moderated by the presence of defenders in children’s member cores. Social victimisation, F(3, 595) = 13.66, p < .001, B = -.201, p=.005. Physical victimisation, F(3, 595) = 5.40, p = .001, B = -.282, p=.006). No association for verbal victimisation. Physical Victimisation Social Victimisation

Summary Children’s well-being is related to their peer-nominated involvement in bullying, their friendship group memberships and humour use. • Affiliative humour moderates the association between belonging to a core where there is high victimisation and self esteem (also depression). • The association between the presence of a defender in participants’ cores and self-esteem was moderated by the participants’ self-enhancing humour. • The presence of a defender in participants’ cores moderated the association between victimisation and depressive symptomatology.

Thank you  To all the children who took part, and the parents and teachers who allowed them to do so. To you for listening http://esrcbullyingandhumourproject.wordpress.com/ Twitter @Humour_Bullying Email: s.e.jones@keele.ac.uk or c.fox@keele.ac.uk Lucy James Hayley Gilman Becky Hale Sirandou Saidy Khan Rebecca Serella

Laughing Together Or Joking Apart?