Personality, Cognitive Flexibility, and Humor

Abstract: Humor is a multifaceted psychological and social phenomenon that encompasses both dispositional and cognitive elements. This study investigated whether cognitive flexibility is indirectly associated with the links between personality traits – specifically Openness and Extraversion – and three humor dimensions: humor sense, humor expression, and humor awareness. A sample of 1,330 Japanese adults completed validated self-report measures assessing personality, cognitive flexibility, and humor. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), we observed significant indirect associations among Openness, Extraversion, cognitive flexibility, and humor awareness and humor sense, whereas no such indirect association emerged for humor expression. These findings are consistent with a trait–process–behavior framework, in which personality traits are associated with adaptive social behavior through patterns of flexible cognitive functioning. This research contributes to our understanding of the cognitive correlates of humor and highlights the importance of cognitive flexibility as a key construct linking stable traits to dynamic interpersonal outcomes.