Intelligence and gelotophobia: The relations of self-estimated and Psychometrically measured intelligence to the fear of being laughed at
-
René T. Proyer
Abstract
The present article examines the relation between the fear of being laughed at (gelotophobia) and intellectual abilities (verbal, numeric, and spatial intelligence, memory and reasoning, vocabulary, and attention) and the self-estimation of one's own abilities. In a first study, N = 167 participants completed ability tests along with a subjective measure for gelotophobia. The results indicate that gelotophobia and intellectual abilities exist independently from each other. These results were replicated in a second study (N = 177) with an independently collected data set. In this study the participants also completed a form for the self-estimation of their own abilities. Though there was a tendency for lower self-estimations of their own abilities, the mean scores were not significantly different among groups of non-gelotophobes and participants with borderline, slight, and pronounced fear of being laughed at. However, the differences between psychometrically measured and self-estimated abilities showed that gelotophobes have a lower self-estimation of their abilities regarding general intelligence, vocabulary, and attention. Taken together the studies show that gelotophobia is not related to intelligence but that gelotophobes tend to have lower self-estimations of their own abilities and underestimate their true ability (i.e., psychometrically measured) by 6 IQ-points. The general pattern of low self-estimations of abilities in gelotophobes is discussed and whether this might be a useful starting point for the development of treatments for gelotophobia.
© 2009 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, D-10785 Berlin
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Fearing humor? Gelotophobia: The fear of being laughed at Introduction and overview
- Gelotophobia: The fear of being laughed at
- Humor theory and the fear of being laughed at
- How do gelotophobes interpret laughter in ambiguous situations? An experimental validation of the concept
- The emotions of gelotophobes: Shameful, fearful, and joyless?
- Investigating the humor of gelotophobes: Does feeling ridiculous equal being humorless?
- How virtuous are gelotophobes? Self- and peer-reported character strengths among those who fear being laughed at
- Intelligence and gelotophobia: The relations of self-estimated and Psychometrically measured intelligence to the fear of being laughed at
- Extending the study of gelotophobia: On gelotophiles and katagelasticists
- Were they really laughed at? That much? Gelotophobes and their history of perceived derisibility
- The fear of being laughed at among psychiatric patients
- Breaking ground in cross-cultural research on the fear of being laughed at (gelotophobia): A multi-national study involving 73 countries
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Fearing humor? Gelotophobia: The fear of being laughed at Introduction and overview
- Gelotophobia: The fear of being laughed at
- Humor theory and the fear of being laughed at
- How do gelotophobes interpret laughter in ambiguous situations? An experimental validation of the concept
- The emotions of gelotophobes: Shameful, fearful, and joyless?
- Investigating the humor of gelotophobes: Does feeling ridiculous equal being humorless?
- How virtuous are gelotophobes? Self- and peer-reported character strengths among those who fear being laughed at
- Intelligence and gelotophobia: The relations of self-estimated and Psychometrically measured intelligence to the fear of being laughed at
- Extending the study of gelotophobia: On gelotophiles and katagelasticists
- Were they really laughed at? That much? Gelotophobes and their history of perceived derisibility
- The fear of being laughed at among psychiatric patients
- Breaking ground in cross-cultural research on the fear of being laughed at (gelotophobia): A multi-national study involving 73 countries
