Development and validation of three brief versions of the humor styles questionnaire

The Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ) is a frequently applied measure of individual differences in humor usage. However, previous research found several of its items to be unreliable and to provide insufficient information. Its 32-item length may also hinder its application in contexts in which short measures are required to maintain participant motivation, for instance large-scale assessments. In the present paper, we present three brief versions with five, four, and three items per subscale respectively, avoiding the questionable items. The results showed that the factor structure, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability of the original HSQ and the developed brief versions were as expected. Relations between the brief versions and psychological constructs (e.g., self-esteem, well-being, aggression, Big Five) were similar to the original HSQ. The findings support the psychometrical soundness and validity of three brief versions of the HSQ comparable to the original long version. General challenges in the assessment of humor are discussed.