LONELINESS, SOCIAL INTERACTIONS AND SENSE OF HUMOR. A QUANTITATIVE STUDY COMPARING ROMANIAN STUDENTS AND OLDER ADULTS

Abstract

The current study explores social and emotional loneliness, social interactions and humor in a sample of Romanian students, departing from the Schiau 2016 study that found the production and social use of humor to be correlated to a reduced social loneliness in a sample of Romanian older adults. Studies indicate that loneliness can be experienced at any age, and that humor can act as a coping mechanism with life’s difficulties, triggering positive emotions. The current study replicates findings in the literature, indicating that younger adults experience less loneliness than older adults, and use more humor than older adults. Young women in the sample had a significantly more positive attitude towards humor than the men. This study has useful implications for a number of fields, including the economic and marketing sectors. The current student population represents a growing market, and studies indicate that the use of humor by service providers may intervene with any negative feelings that could cause clients to withdraw their engagement and cooperation in the service endeavor (Locke, 1996). Therefore, we argue that, for the retail and service sector, it is important to understand the different approach towards humor by the different age and gender groups discussed in this study.