• DOI:10.1111/J.1559-1816.1996.TB00097.X
• Corpus ID: 10146312

Effects of State Humor, Expectancies, and Choice on Postsurgical Mood and Self-Medication: A Field Experiment1

@article{Rotton1996EffectsOS,
  title={Effects of State Humor, Expectancies, and Choice on Postsurgical Mood and Self-Medication: A Field Experiment1},
  author={James Rotton and M. M. Shats},
  journal={Journal of Applied Social Psychology},
  year={1996},
  volume={26},
  pages={1775-1794}
}

• J. Rotton, M. Shats
• Published 1 October 1996
• Psychology
• Journal of Applied Social Psychology

It was hypothesized that repeated exposure to humorous material reduces distress, pain, and medication following surgery. This hypothesis was tested in a field experiment by randomly assigning 78 postsurgical patients to either a control group or 1 of 8 experimental groups formed by the factorial crossing of type of videotape (humorous vs. serious), perceived control (choice vs. no choice), and expectation (positive vs. none). Multivariate analyses of variance disclosed that humor reduced requests for minor medication, combined with expectations to reduce pain, but increased use of heavy analgesic when patients were deprived of choice. Although more research needs to be done, the findings suggest that hospital patients benefit from humorous and distracting material when exposure is voluntary. Belief in the healing powers of humor appears to be fairly widespread. This belief is reflected, and perhaps encouraged, by articles (e.g., Goldstein, 1982; Long, 1987; Mann, 1986) and books (e.g., Metcalf & Felible, 1992; Moody, 1978) that portray humor as a cure for whatever ails a person. Cousins (1 989), in his last book, listed several hospitals that have incorporated humor into the treatment that patients receive. It is probably safe to assert that books and articles by Norman Cousins (1 976, 1979) are largely responsible for current interest in the health effects of humor. Popular works frequently begin by describing how Cousins overcame a typically fatal form of arthritis by watching Candid Camera episodes and Marx Brothers movies. Cousins' cure has also been described in the introduction of scientific reports on the health effects of humor (e.g., Lefcourt &