Laughing Through Attachment: How Our Bonds Shape Humor

This study explored the relationship between attachment styles and humor styles. Using both dimensional and categorical approaches to assess attachment, we examined how attachment patterns relate to four humor styles (affiliative, self-enhancing, self-defeating, and aggressive). The results revealed significant associations between the two variables. Specifically, attachment anxiety was positively correlated with self-defeating humor and negatively with self-enhancing humor, while attachment avoidance was linked to aggressive humor. From a categorical perspective, fearful attachment was found to be associated with both aggressive and self-defeating humor, while preoccupied attachment was notably related to self-defeating humor. The study also validated the Relationship Scale Questionnaire among a sample of Tunisians (N = 162), thereby supporting the robustness of the two-dimensional attachment model through confirmatory factor analysis. However, cultural specificity of attachment patterns influenced the specific items that define each dimension, suggesting that humor, as an attachment-related behavior, could be shaped by sociocultural norms.