Pathological forms of narcissism and perceived stress during the transition to the university: The mediating role of humor styles.

The way individuals use humor is likely to be influenced by how they feel about themselves. The goal of the present studies was to examine the association between the pathological forms of narcissism (grandiose and vulnerable narcissism) and humor styles in Jewish Israeli undergraduate samples as they made the adjustment to being university students. Study 1 (N 187) found that grandiose narcissism was positively associated with adaptive humor, whereas vulnerable narcissism was negatively associated with adaptive humor and positively associated with maladaptive humor. Study 2 (N 251) found that humor styles mediated the associations between the pathological forms of narcissism and perceived stress. There was no evidence of any moderating effect of humor styles on the relationship between the pathological forms of narcissism and perceived stress. These findings are discussed in terms of the role that humor may play in explaining the association between the pathological forms of narcissism and perceived stress.