Parents who use humor have a better relationship with their children, according to a study

They say laughter is the best medicine, but according to a new study led by researchers at Pennsylvania State University, it could also be a good educational tool.

In a pilot study, the research team found that most people consider humor to be an effective parenting tool and that the use of humor by parents or caregivers affects the quality of their relationship with their children. Among those whose parents used humor, the majority viewed their relationship with their parents and the way they were parented in a positive light. The researchers published their findings in the journal PLOS One.

“Humor can teach people cognitive flexibility, reduce stress, and promote creative problem solving and resilience,” said Benjamin Levi, a professor of pediatrics and humanities at Penn State College of Medicine and senior author of the study. “My father used humor and it was very effective. I use humor in my clinical practice and with my own children. The question was how to use humor constructively.”

While aspects of humor and play have been studied in various contexts and in child development, the use of humor in education has not been formally studied, the researchers say.

“There is an interesting parallel between business and parenting, both of which are characterized by hierarchies. In business, humor has been shown to help break down hierarchies, create better environments for collaboration and creativity, and reduce tension,” said lead author Lucy Emery, who was a medical student at Penn State College of Medicine at the time of the study and currently works as a pediatric resident at Boston Children’s Hospital.

“Parent-child relationships are more loving than business relationships, but parenting often involves stressful situations. Humor can help reduce these tensions and hierarchies and help both parties feel better in a stressful situation.”

This preliminary research was a first step in exploring how people view the relationship between humor, their experience of parenting, and their experience of being a parent. The study will help lay the groundwork for understanding how to use humor constructively and in which situations the use of humor is riskier.

They surveyed 312 people between the ages of 18 and 45. More than half said they had been raised by people who used humor, and 71.8% agreed that humor can be an effective parenting tool. The majority said they used humor with their children or planned to do so, and believed that doing so would bring more potential benefit than harm.

The team also found that there is a link between parents’ use of humor and the way their now-adult children view their parenting and their relationship with their parents. Of those who said their parents used humor, 50.5% said they had a good relationship with their parents, and 44.2% said they felt their parents raised them well.

On the other hand, of the children who said their parents had no sense of humor, only 2.9% reported having a good relationship with their parents and 3.6% said their parents raised them well.

While it’s not surprising that parents use humor with their children when they were raised by caregivers who also do so, Levi said the stark differences between the two groups were unexpected.

The research team is expanding this preliminary study to survey a larger and more diverse cohort of parents and collecting qualitative data on parents’ experiences with the use of humor.

“I hope that people will learn to use humor as an effective parenting tool, not only to relieve tension, but also to develop their own resilience and cognitive and emotional flexibility and model that aspect for their children,” Levi said.

Erik Lehman, a biostatistician at Penn State, and Anne Libera, director of comedy studies at The Second City in Chicago, also contributed to the article.