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Community-dwelling older adults' contextual experiencing of humour

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 October 2010

THECLA DAMIANAKIS  and
ELSA MARZIALI
THECLA DAMIANAKIS*
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, University of Windsor, Windsor, Canada.
ELSA MARZIALI
Affiliation:
Toronto and Factor-Inwentish Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, Canada.
*
Address for correspondence: Thecla Damianakis, School of Social Work, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, Ontario N9B 3P4, Canada E-mail: damianak@uwindsor.ca
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Abstract

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the contextual experiencing of humour by community-dwelling older adults. Data for this study consisted of audio-recorded, transcribed interviews with 20 older adults who had participated in a larger study of a number of dimensions associated with the process of ageing. Qualitative coding of the interview content was used to extract salient themes that identified types of humour experienced in different life contexts. The analysis of older adults' narratives about their day-to-day lives yielded four types of experienced humour: affiliative, self-enhancing, self-defeating, and authentic. Within an inter-personal context, expressing and appreciating humour contributed to sustaining positive social connections. The use of authentic humour and being able to laugh at one's self and life's uncontrollable circumstances appeared to support a positive sense of self and was adaptive for coping with the inevitable losses that accompany the ageing process, such as declining health status. The results of this study suggest that humour expression and appreciation may play an important role in managing the ageing process in ways that are adaptive especially in inter-personal contexts. Possibly health-care providers in both community and institutional settings need to be made aware of the benefits for older adults of experiencing humour in different life contexts.

Keywords

humourinterpersonal contextcommunicationhealthy ageingsubjective experiencing
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 31 , Issue 1 , January 2011 , pp. 110 - 124
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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