Psychology News
Researchers at Western Illinois University explored how playfulness between romantic partners is a marker of a healthy relationship. The study is published in the journal HUMOR.
The Study
In order to understand how positive humor is associated with lasting relationships between couples, the research team conducted a series of experiments.
200 college students were enrolled as participants and asked to provide data on their romantic relationships. They filled out an online survey about demographics, their partner’s uses of humor, a measure of relationship satisfaction, etc.
The researchers used two subscales of the relational humor inventory to assess perceived partner’s humor use, romantic attractiveness, and enjoyment of partner’s humor usage.
The Findings
The results revealed that playful teases make relationships last longer. In fact, being playful in a relationship was positively correlated with relationship satisfaction and negatively correlated with relational uncertainty.
To Know More You May Refer To
Miczo, N. & Averbeck, J. (2020). Perceived partner humor use and relationship satisfaction in romantic pairs: The mediating role of relational uncertainty. HUMOR, 33(4), 513-534. https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2019-0097