 The healing power of humorCynthia A. Lietz and Breanna M. Carpenter Lietz Chapter 8 in How to Build Resilience in College Students, 2026, pp 85-95 from Edward Elgar Publishing Abstract: Having a sense of humor is an important protective factor in helping people recover from loss, trauma, and other adversities. When people smile and laugh, there is a physical process in their bodies that promotes healing. This physical manifestation of resilience can allow people to work through current or past trauma and stressors, something that is particularly relevant for college students. Humor is also important in that it offers evidence that acceptance is happening. In other words, when people make light of difficulties they are facing, that action indicates they understand and accept this reality as part of their lives. With all of this said, it is important to recognize that humor is culturally grounded. Professionals working in colleges and universities should not make light of the experiences students are having. Teasing and sarcasm can for many be experienced as hurtful. Instead, college professionals can create space for a student's own expression of humor and then validate this as a healthy coping mechanism. Tools for doing this are offered in this chapter along with a personal narrative that demonstrates the importance of humor in the process of resilience. Keywords: Resilience; Humor; Laughter; Acceptance (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:24725_8 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing |
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