The health-caring function of humor in social work

Vol. 23 Iss. 1 pp. 4854 | St. Petersburg State Institute of Psychology and Social Work | ISSN: 1993-8101

Abstract

The article justifies the need for a sense of humor in social workers. It reveals the concept of «humor», theories of humor, purpose of humor. Author describes situations of using humor in social work focusing on the fact that the main function of humor is to provide a feeling of satisfaction in difficult situations of professional activity and thus to preserve health. Thereby author suggests methods for a social worker to improve his/her sense of humor in order to successfully solve professional problems and to develop personal powers.

Keywords

humor, sense of humor, theories of humor, purpose of humor, types of using humor, functions of humor in social work, methods of improving the sense of humor

Citation

Citation — Harvard Notation

References

  1. Aristotle. Sochineniya: v 4 tomakh. T. 4 [Works: in 4 volumes. Vol. 4]. Dovatur A. I. (ed.). Moscow: Mysl Publ., 1983. 830 p. (In Russian).
  2. Weinzweig P. The ten commandments of personal power. London: Meridian Press, 1988. 175 p. (Rus. ed.: Weinzweig P. Desyat zapovedey tvorcheskoy lichnosti. Moscow: Progress Publ., 1990. 192 p.).
  3. Kahn M. Between therapist and client: the new relationship. New York: Holt Paperbacks, 1997. 224 p. (Rus. ed.: Kahn M. Mezhdu psikhoterapevtom i kliyentom: novye vzaimootnosheniya. St. Petersburg: Piter Publ., 1997, 143 p.)
  4. Kant I. Sochineniya: v 8 tomakh. T. 7 [Works: in 8 volumes. Vol. 7]. Moscow: Choro Publ., 1994. 495 p. (In Russian).
  5. Kiyamova R. Z. Chuvstvo yumora kak faktor samoaktualizatsii lichnosti. Dis. … kand. psikhol. nauk [Sense of humor as a factor of self-actualization: Cand.Sc. (Psychology) dissertation]. Moscow, 2013. 352 p. (In Russian).
  6. Luk A. N. Yumor, ostroumiye, tvorchestvo [Humor, wit, creativity]. Moscow: Iskusstvo Publ., 1977. 138 p. (In Russian).
  7. Martin R. Psychology of humor: an integrative approach. New York: Academic Press., 2006. 464 p. (Rus. ed.: Martin R. Psikhologiya yumora. St. Petersburg: Piter Publ., 2009. 480 p.).
  8. Pisachkin V. A. M. M. Bakhtin o «pravakh» i statuse smekha v odolenii zla [M. M. Bakhtin on «rights» and status of laughter in overcoming evil]. Filosofiya M. M. Bakhtina I etika sovremennogo mira [Philosophy of M. M. Bakhtin and ethics of modern world]. Saransk: Mordovia State University Publ., 1992, pp. 5–13 (in Russian).
  9. Svetlov M. Ya — za ulybku! [I am for a smile]. Moscow: Pravda Publ., 1962. 64 p. (In Russian).
  10. Redozubov A. Logika emotsiy [The logic of emotions]. St. Petersburg: Amfora Publ., 2012. 320 p. (In Russian).
  11. Ulyanova Yu. I. Individualno-psikhologicheskiye osobennosti chuvstva yumora v professionalnoy deyatelnosti sothsialnykh rabotnikov: Avtoref. dis. … kand. pikhol. nauk [Individual psychological features of the sense of humor in the professional activity of social workers: Cand.Sc. (Psychology) dissertation abstract]. Moscow, 2012. 25 p. (In Russian).
  12. Freud S. Wit and its relation to the unconscious. New York: Moffat, Yard & Co., 1916. 388 p. (Rus. ed.: Freud S. Ostroumiye i yego otnosheniye k bessoznatelnomu. St. Petersburg: Universitetskaya kniga Publ., 1997. 319 p.)
  13. Boyle G. J., Joss-Reid J. M. Relationship of humor to health: a psychometric investigation. British Journal of Health Psychology, 2004, 9 (1), pp. 51–66.
  14. Kelly W. E. An investigation of worry and sense of humor. The Journal of Psychology, 2002, 136 (6), pp. 657–666.