Thursday 20. June 2013

Call for papers: August 2014 Special Issue of EJOP on “Humor, Well-Being and Health”

Over the past decade there has been an exponential growth in psychological research investigating the impact of humor on psychological well-being and physical health. As such, a presentation of contemporary psychological research and theory on this topic will be the focus of the August 2014 Special Humor Issue of EJOP.

Europe’s Journal of Psychology
Call for Papers
August 2014 Special Issue of EJOP on “Humor, Well-Being and Health”
Guest Editor: Nicholas A. Kuiper, Ph.D.

For this issue we are interested in now receiving papers that deal with the various facets of humor, well-being and health. This could include, for example, novel and well-designed research papers documenting the facilitative effects of humor on well-being and/or physical health. Here, we are interested in papers that show how humor might (1) function to enhance positive life experiences, or (2) minimize or even eliminate the detrimental psychological and/or physical health impact of stressful events or life circumstances.

Conversely, we are also interested in papers detailing the circumstances under which humor could have a negative impact on either psychological well-being or physical health. Humor can be defined broadly in this research, and could include humor or laughter as a manipulation (e.g., watching a funny film); as an emotional regulation strategy for dealing with both negative and positive life events; or as an individual difference variable that could be either adaptive (such as self-enhancing humor) or maladaptive (such as aggressive humor). Although our primary focus will be on presenting the most innovative research papers in this domain, we would also be interested in receiving strong theoretical contributions (including literature review papers) that significantly advance our understanding of the psychological processes and mechanisms that may underlie the positive (or negative) effects of humor and laughter on physical health and psychological well-being.

Submission Process:

All papers should be submitted through the regular EJOP submission process no later than January 20, 2014 and should confirm to all of the requirements listed on the EJOP website.

All papers received for this special issue will be processed by the Special Guest Editor Professor Nick Kuiper (kuiper[at]uwo.ca). Those papers subsequently selected for inclusion in the Special Humor Issue must provide a significant increase in our knowledge base concerning humor’s role in psychological well-being and health, while also meeting all standards for publication.