Abstract
This study investigated the relationship between types of humor (aggressive humor and affinity humor) of homeroom teachers, as recognized by their students, and five domains of class climate (mutual respect among the students, discipline, willingness, enjoyment, and resistance). The participants included a total of 500 students – 250 primary school students (fourth to sixth grade) and 250 secondary school students (seventh to ninth grade) in Japan. The students answered questions about their homeroom teacher’s type of humor and the climate of their class using a self-report scale. We labeled five variables of class climate as dependent variables, and two types of teachers’ humor as independent variables, and conducted a hierarchal multiple regression analysis with two steps. Findings showed that aggressive humor had a significant negative correlation to all positive class climates, and a significant positive correlation to negative class climates. Affinity humor indicated a significant correlation in the exact opposite manner to the above findings. Furthermore, the interaction effect of the two types of teachers’ humor was insignificant for every variable of class climate. The findings indicated that an ideal class climate could be created if teachers refrained as much as possible from using aggressive humor and used affinity humor.
Funding statement: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
About the authors
Ryota Tsukawaki is an assistant professor at Hijiyama University, Japan, where he teaches social psychology, and research methods in psychology and social surveying. He holds a Ph.D. in psychology from Hiroshima University, Japan. His works focus on the social functions of humor. His current research interests include teacher’s humor and student learning.
Tomoya Imura is a lecturer in the Graduate School of Teacher Education at Saga University in Japan, where he teaches educational psychology. He holds a Ph. D. in psychology from Hiroshima University, Japan. Dr. Imura’s work has focused on the character strengths of children.
Nanae Kojima holds a Ph.D. in psychology from Hiroshima University, Japan. She is a senior assistant professor at Tohoku University, Japan, where she works as a student counselor. Her research interests are intercultural adjustment of students studying overseas, student counseling, and mental health.
Yoshiya Furukawa is a research fellowship for young scientists in Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. He holds a Ph.D. in psychology from Hiroshima University, Japan. His works focus on guilt and morality.
Katsuhiro Ito is a professor at Hijiyama University, Hiroshima, Japan, teaching cognitive psychology, and data analysis in psychology. His current research interests focus on the mechanisms underlying the human specific cognition.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.jp) for English language editing.
Conflict of interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Ethical considerations: The study was approved by Ethical Committee of Graduate School of Education, Hiroshima University and informed consent was obtained.
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