Can Humor Improve Parenting
A new study from Penn State, published in PLOS One, reveals that parents who use humor tend to have stronger and more positive relationships with their children. Researchers surveyed 312 adults between 18 and 45, and over 70% agreed that humor is an effective parenting tool. Among those who felt they had a good relationship with their parents, 63% said their parents used humor, compared to just 3.7% whose parents didn’t. “Humor can teach people cognitive flexibility, relieve stress, and promote creative problem solving and resilience,” said Benjamin Levi, senior author of the study and professor of pediatrics and humanities at Penn State. He noted that while humor has been explored in other settings, its role in parenting has been largely overlooked until now.
The research also found that parents raised by caregivers who used humor were likelier to incorporate it into their parenting. “While parent-child relationships are more loving than business relationships, stressful situations happen often when parenting,” said lead author Lucy Emery. “Humor can help diffuse that tension and hierarchy and help both parties feel better about a stressful situation.” The findings suggest that humor helps in the moment and contributes to long-term emotional resilience and healthier parent-child dynamics. The research team is now expanding its work to explore how humor can be used more constructively across various families.
Do you use humor in your parenting, or wish your parents had?
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