How do emotional restrictions affect the use of humor? A behavior genetic analysis of alexithymia and humor styles

TY - JOUR

T1 - How do emotional restrictions affect the use of humor? A behavior genetic analysis of alexithymia and humor styles

AU - Atkinson, Breanna E.

AU - Lipton, Debra

AU - Baughman, Holly M.

AU - Schermer, Julie A.

AU - Harris, Juliette

AU - Vernon, Philip A.

PY - 2015/4/25

Y1 - 2015/4/25

N2 - This article reports the first behavioral genetic study of relationships between alexithymia and four styles of humor: affiliative, self-enhancing, self-defeating, and aggressive. A total of 509 MZ pairs and 264 DZ pairs of twins completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20) and the Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ). Consistent with our predictions, alexithymia correlated negatively with affiliative and self-enhancing humor and positively with self-defeating and aggressive humor. All but one of the 16 phenotypic correlations that we report are significant at the 0.01 level. Also consistent with our predictions, the phenotypic correlations between alexithymia and humor styles were primarily attributable to correlated genetic factors and to a lesser extent to correlated non-shared environmental factors. Correlated shared environmental factors had no significant effect. Implications and limitations of this study are discussed.

AB - This article reports the first behavioral genetic study of relationships between alexithymia and four styles of humor: affiliative, self-enhancing, self-defeating, and aggressive. A total of 509 MZ pairs and 264 DZ pairs of twins completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20) and the Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ). Consistent with our predictions, alexithymia correlated negatively with affiliative and self-enhancing humor and positively with self-defeating and aggressive humor. All but one of the 16 phenotypic correlations that we report are significant at the 0.01 level. Also consistent with our predictions, the phenotypic correlations between alexithymia and humor styles were primarily attributable to correlated genetic factors and to a lesser extent to correlated non-shared environmental factors. Correlated shared environmental factors had no significant effect. Implications and limitations of this study are discussed.

KW - alexithymia

KW - behavior genetics

KW - humor

KW - twin study

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84928642426&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1017/thg.2014.89

DO - 10.1017/thg.2014.89

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84928642426

SN - 1832-4274

VL - 18

SP - 138

EP - 141

JO - TWIN RESEARCH AND HUMAN GENETICS

JF - TWIN RESEARCH AND HUMAN GENETICS

IS - 2

ER -