Humor as a Protective Factor in the Intergenerational Transmission of Aggression

• In Event: Poster Session 05
  In Poster Session: PS 05 Topic - Family Context & Processes

Abstract

Children who grow up in aggressive families are at increased risk for perpetrating aggression against romantic partners in adulthood, a phenomenon referred to as the intergenerational transmission of aggression (Ehrensaft et al., 2003). Although this cycle of aggression is well-established, the majority of individuals who experience family aggression do not go on to perpetrate aggression in their intimate relationships (Stith et al., 2000). Having a romantic partner who demonstrates warmth and positive communication is protective against the intergenerational continuity of aggression (Conger et al., 2013), yet very little is known about humor as one specific type of positive communication. While the use of humor is positively associated with perceived closeness and conflict resolution in couples (Campbell et al., 2008), it is unclear whether the use of humor in romantic partner interactions at home can similarly be protective against the perpetration of aggression. We hypothesize that humor in couples’ everyday interactions is a protective factor in the intergenerational transmission of aggression.

Seventy-seven young adult dating couples (M Age = 22.7) participated in a one-day at-home study. Couples were ethnically-racially diverse and had a mean relationship length of 2.5 years. Each participant was loaned a smartphone, which audio-recorded approximately 50% of the day in 3-minute increments. Participants were unaware when they were being recorded but were told they could mute the microphone for privacy or when others were around; phones were turned off at bedtime. Using participants’ hourly self-reports of conflict, researchers identified three hours of the day in which conflict most likely occurred. Research assistants transcribed and coded the audio recordings from these hours. Each 3-minute audio file was coded for humor on a 0 (none) to 2 (a lot) scale, with humor referring to laughing, joking, and efforts to lighten the mood; humor was not coded if it was malicious or mean-spirited. Humor codes were averaged across the three hours. Parent-to-child aggression (PCA) was assessed via self-report using 14-items of physical and psychological aggression. Dating aggression was assessed using 65-items of psychological, physical, electronic, and sexual aggression; mean aggression scores were calculated by averaging across all items.

Moderation analyses using the PROCESS macro for SPSS (Hayes, 2017) indicated that when women had partners who used low levels of humor, there was a marginally significant positive association between women’s PCA and their aggression perpetration. However, as shown in Figure 1, when women had partners who used high levels of humor, there was a significant negative association between PCA and aggression perpetration (b = -.23, p =.007). Analyses controlled for women’s use of humor and male’s aggression perpetration. There were no significant interaction effects of humor in buffering against men’s perpetration of aggression. Findings suggest that the intergenerational transmission of aggression is disrupted when romantic partners naturally use high levels of humor in their everyday conversations. As humor was coded during times of potential relationship conflict, the use of humor may help to de-escalate conflict and increase positive emotions, reducing the likelihood of aggression perpetration.

Authors

• Sohyun C. Han, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
  Presenting Author

• Hannah Faith Rasmussen, University of Southern California
  Non-Presenting Author

• Yana Ryjova, University of Southern California
  Non-Presenting Author

• Adela C Timmons, Florida International University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Yehsong Kim, University of Southern California
  Non-Presenting Author

• Gayla Margolin, University of Southern California
  Non-Presenting Author