Humour - Positive Psychology & Storytelling - Module 12

 

Video : https://youtu.be/AFsilk1VsN0 (Links to an external site.)

 

 

 

Story 12:      Nasiruddin and the coat

                  Nasiruddin is a teacher

              Nasiruddin on the pumpkin patch

 

Story Reflection Task : 

1)  What kind of humour do you enjoy - slapstick or wordplay?

2) What does it tell you about yourself? 


Knowing Humour : 

“The human Race has one really effective weapon and that is Humour”– Mark Twain

Humour is that which makes you laugh. In ancient Greece, it was known that the word Humor, which meant body fluid in Latin, was the fluid that controlled one’s health and emotions!

Humour has been identified as one of the top 24 Character strengths and is classified under the Virtue of Transcendence. It  is a strength that helps make connections with the larger meaning and purpose of life.

Humour has been defined in 3 ways: (Positive Psychology Workbook _ Bruce Smith)

  1. The ability to make others laugh or smile.
  2. The ability to see something as different, absurd, or incongruous.
  3. The ability as a super-power, it enables us to transcend or rise above stressful situations. 

Humour helps us recover from Illness and surgery quickly, helps us deal with mortality, reduces harmful effects of stress response, improves immune function. Humour may be a coping mechanism or a defence mechanism.

Psychologist Dr.Paul McGhee developed a humour programme called the Seven Humor Habits and his research shows that Humour increases optimism, self-efficacy and positive emotions. 

Studies by Martin et al show that there are two types of Humor (Humour Styles): Adaptive and Maladaptive Humour.

1) Adaptive Humour which includes affiliative and self-enhancing humour.

Both increase the positive emotions as we bond and form relationships, lightens the mood and helps us manages stress. 

Affiliative Humor is used by individuals to bond with others, reduce tension and generally amuse.

Self-enhancing humour – people with this kind of humour have a humorous perspective to life and also use it to cope with stress. This humour is most beneficial to develop well being.

 

2) Maladaptive humour where one can get aggressive or self-defeating, both of which are detrimental to health.  

Aggressive humour -Racist jokes, sarcasm that may be used for the purpose of amusement.

Self-defeating – when humour is directed against self in a negative way or detrimental way in order to gain approval from others, it can prove harmful.

 All research tells us that if we learn to laugh more find humour in everyday life and develop a sense of humour, it will help us stay positive and flourish.

 Ways to develop humor everyday:

  1. Identify what amuses you every day.  
  2. Identify how to respond to the person or situation.
  3. Find opportunities to look at the incongruity, absurdness or difference in language or situations.
  4. Have a playful attitude
  5. Learn to find humor in the middle of stress
  6. Laugh out loud.
  7. Practice cracking a joke!

 ~~

Highlights of this Module:

1) Humour is the ability to make others laugh

2) Ability to see something as absurd or incongruous

3) As a super power, helps us transcend or rise above stressful situations.

4) Adaptive and Maladaptive Humour

5) Adaptive Humour is affiliative and self enhancing humor

6) Maladaptive Humour is aggressive and self defeating humour

 ~~

Topic Reflection Task : 

  • Bring in Humour - Create a cartoon self - give yourself a superpower which is related to any real aspect of you.    EG: I have been an avid reader all my life. My superpower is reading & telling stories. I would see myself as book wielding cartoon elephant.  (don’t be afraid to engage your playfulness) . A friend created a cartoon version of herself and calls the cartoon Chatori ( because she loves Chaat)
  • Identify a character from movies/ cartoons that represents you.    Draw or Write this task and post it r on Discussion page

 

Research

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humour

Pg : 167 – Positive Psychology Workbook / Bruce Smith (https://shac.unm.edu/documents/positive-psych-workbook.pdf)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dear Narrative Practices - a love letter

  Dear Narrative Practices and Ideas, How are you? Have you found all the people you need to find? My hopes and dreams for you is that you reach every storyteller-soul and re-author their thinking and ways of being! The song “Rekhe iddara sake” from kannada movie Chinnari mutha has the following words: Listen to the song here  Are mere wings enough? Birds need the sky to fly high. Are mere legs enough? Deer need speed to jump high. Are mere flowers enough? It needs the wind to spread the scent. Mere water is not enough A river needs the valley to make a river. Mere clouds are not enough Isn't Earth required for rain to pour upon? Are mere eyes enough? Do we not need objects to see? Is mere voice enough? Do we not need a song to sing together?!   This song reminds me that a person does not exist in isolation or in small confined relationships. We are more than that one relationship; we are all that we seek in our landscape. We are agent...
Read more

The Land tells me .... ( a poem) - Versespace 16

Image
  The land offers me a memory, intangible as it can be, A memory of royal, benevolent Rajas. I wonder who his Rani was and then I slip into the memory again. Land is granted, temples built, and priests brought in from faraway lands. I wonder if the Raja and his escorts come back today to witness what they bestowed, Will they know it or even recognise it?   Lord Ganesha is the guardian of this temple, He is still worshiped in his own little shrine, placed at the entrance. Yet the main deity lies forgotten somewhere in the nether regions of the temple, While their replacement is feted in the sanctum-sanctorum.   Human memory is so fragile and ephemeral. Old is lost and abandoned, While New is painted and polished. We forget stories of the old and wish to reinvent every wheel again.   It is time to Remember the past and acknowledge it. And let go our greed for new and nearer things. It is time to Reclaim all that we already have...
Read more

625 Moons and counting! - Externalising the story of my past, present and future through the landscape metaphor!

Like all stories, mine is a nested story.  Stories within stories. Yet it starts at the very beginning - a very good place to start. When you sing we begin with DO RE ME , when we read we begin with ABC, when we tell a story we begin with One upon a time.... there lived a person who knew a huge big tree! Let me open the door to the landscape of my birth and growing up. It was a Forest of Adventure! We had a huge tree near our lunch ground in school and the moment bell rang we would call dibs on who would get to climb the tree and eat while sitting on it. Life was full of adventure. The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton was my favorite book growing up and climbing trees was my favorite thing to do. Every day was an adventure. I eagerly looked forward to the new day – not for the studying part, but for the newness that awaited me at school and dance and sometimes music class! Dance class was in a community hall with place to play in front and even huge gulmohur trees! My dance teach...
Read more