Humour as a Moderator Between Hassles and Well-Being

Humour is a universal phenomenon that offers several physiological and psychological benefits across cultures. The objectives of this study were to examine the relationships between daily hassles, humour and well-being; and to investigate the moderating effect of humour on the relationship between hassles and well-being. A correlational design was adopted to collect data from 644 participants (men = 300, women = 344), aged between 18 and 58 years using purposive and snowballing sampling techniques. The Daily Hassles Scale, Sense of Humour Questionnaire (SHQ-R) and the Personal Well-Being Index-Adult (PWI-A) were administered to the sample. The self-report measures were appropriately scored and the collective data were analyzed. Statistical analyses revealed a positive relationship between sense of humour and well-being. A negative relationship was observed between sense of humour and hassles; and between well-being and hassles. Further, sense of humour was found to be moderating the relationship between daily hassles and well-being. This study highlights the role of humour in softening the impact of hassles on the well-being of the Indian population. This strengthens the construct of humour in the context of positive psychology.