Sanity through Insanity: The Use of Dark Humor among United States Veterans

Humor is generally known to effectively help individuals manage distress. Yet a variety of ways exist to engage in humor, and not all of them may be equally associated with desirable outcomes. The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which dark humor is associated with the subjective well-being of United States military veterans. An online survey was announced on several social media pages populated by US veterans, to which 93 fully responded. Our findings indicate that the use of dark humor does not appear to be associated with a sense of connectedness, but the reported use of self-defeating types of dark humor was associated with lower levels of life satisfaction. Our hypothesis that increased feelings of connectedness to civilian and veteran/active-duty friends would predict increased reports of overall subjective well-being was supported. The implications of these findings for understanding the functions of dark humor are discussed.