Personality is a popular topic of study in psychology. Personality is a form of trait that is relatively permanent and is a unique characteristic that consistently shows individual behavior (Fadhiil & Halimah, 2021). According to the Big Five Personality initiated by McCrae and Costa (2003), it is considered to consist of five dimensions: extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience.
On the other hand, Humor can be defined as a form of communication that elicits amusement, laughter, or enjoyment (Freda. N et al., 2020). Humor sty (Martin, 2019) (W Li, 2020) (Muhammad Aditiya Fadhiil, 2021)le is the way a person uses humor in their daily interaction. Different humor styles can be seen as expressions of certain personality traits (Fadhiil & Halimah, 2021).
Based on research, humor also has several types which are affiliative humor, self-enhancing humor, aggressive humor, and self-defeating humor. Affiliative humor style relates to improve social relationships by telling jokes and engaging in witty banter to amuse others. Self-enhancing humor style relates to finding amusement in the quirks and silliness of life and coping with difficult circumstances by looking from a humorous perspective. Aggressive humor style is a humor by making fun of others to show their superiority without regard for the the other person. And the last one, self-defeating humor relates to use of humor that overly belittles oneself, pokes fun at one's own weaknesses and laughs when ridiculed to ingratiate oneself with others (Martin, 2019).
After knowing personalities based on the big 5 personalitiy and types of humor, we can identify the type of humor we have based on our personality.
Extraversion
Extraversion is a personality trait that is often associated with individuals who are outgoing, sociable, and energetic. In relation to humor styles, extraversion has been found to have a positive correlation with affiliative humor style and self-enhancing humor style. Extraversion are more likely to use humor as a way to connect with others and to improve their own mood. However, there are also studies that have found that people with extraversion tend to appreciate all types of humor (Sulejmanov et al., 2023).
Agreeableness
Agreeableness is one of the Big 5 personality traits that has been found to correlate with various humor styles. People high in agreeableness tend to engage more in affiliative humor, which involves using jokes and humor to create positive social connections and maintain harmony. On the other hand, individuals low in agreeableness are more likely to engage in aggressive humor, which includes teasing, sarcasm, and making fun of others (Plessen et al.2020).
Openness to Experience
This trait refers to a person's willingness to engage in new experiences, embrace diversity, and display creativity. In research specifically focused on humor, individuals with high levels of Openness to Experience have been found to be more likely to use affiliative and self-enhancing humor styles. Affiliative humor involves using humor to build connections and establish rapport with others, while self-enhancing humor involves using humor as a coping mechanism and to maintain a positive outlook (Plessen et al.2020).
Conscientiousness
Conscientiousness reflects a person's level of organization, diligence, and dependability (Wijaya, 2020). Conscientious individuals exhibit lower levels of aggressive or self-defeating humor. Instead, they tend to use affiliative and self-enhancing humor more frequently. This implies that conscientiousness is connected to advantageous humor styles that promote positive relationships with others (Plessen et al.2020).
Neuroticism
Neuroticism gauges emotional stability and the propensity for experiencing negative emotions. Neuroticism is associated with higher levels of self-defeating humor, which involves making self-disparaging remarks to gain attention or sympathy from others. People high in neuroticism also tend to use less affiliative humor, characterized by friendly and positive jokes that promote social bonds (Plessen et al.2020).
These five traits provide a comprehensive understanding of human personality and serve as a foundation for identifying humor types based on individual’s unique characteristics (Power & Pluess, 2015). Although there are all dimensions of personality within an individual, there are certain dimensions that are more dominant in describing the individual's behavior (Fadhiil & Halimah, 2021).
By understanding how humor can be identified based on these personality traits, we can gain valuable insights into why people find certain types of humor amusing and others less so. We also can gain insights into how people communicate, express themselves, find amusement, and ultimately matching them to specific personalities. (Li et al., 2020).
