幽默的發展趨勢一直是研究者關注的焦點，過去研究發現，個體幽默偏好或表現會隨著年齡產生變化，然而這些研究多聚焦於學齡兒童至大學階段的年齡層，少有研究探討成人至老年族群的變化。故而，本研究將檢驗不同年齡層於幽默風格上的差異情形。過去研究發現，老年人有追求正向情緒的傾向（正向情感偏誤），這個現象可能也會反映在老年人幽默風格的選擇上。同時，根據社會情緒選擇理論，當個體年歲漸長時，會將焦點著重在自己而非人際關係上，據此，本研究假設老年人較可能偏好使用正向且與自身有關的幽默風格（自我提升型幽默風格）。
本研究抽取407位不同年齡層（國中/大學/中年/老年）的參與者進行幽默風格（親和型/自我提升型/攻擊型/自我貶抑型）的測量。研究工具採用中文版的「幽默風格量表」。結果顯示，年齡與幽默風格之間具有交互作用，進一步分析發現，老年人的自我提升型幽默風格分數顯著高於其他幽默風格分數；此外，從大學到老年階段，自我提升的幽默類型也有顯著上升的趨勢。
綜合上述，我們發現，相較於年輕人，老年人更偏好使用自我提升型的幽默風格。本研究結果有助於釐清幽默與年齡之間的關係，以作為後續研究之基礎。

In the past, researchers have shown an ongoing interest in the study of individual differences in humor. Particularly, several studies have demonstrated that different types of humor might show different patterns of change in preferences with age. Although there are many studies on the developmental aspects of humor, from childhood through adolescence, but relatively little research is devoted to the study of humor with adulthood and the elderly populations. The current study aimed to investigate the individual differences in humor styles of different age groups.
In addition, previous research has found that the phenomenon of positivity effect in older adults, may influence the use of all four styles of humor. According to the Socioemotional Selectivity theory (SST), as people get older, they are more intended to focus on themselves rather than the relationship, therefore, in this paper, the possibility that that older adults are more likely to use humor to enhance their emotion (self-enhancing humor style) was assumed.
A total of 407 participants, from junior high to older adults completed the traditional Chinese versions of the Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ-TC) for the assessment of affiliative, self-enhancing, aggressive and self-defeating humor styles. Analyses for both age groups and humor styles revealed significant interactions. Furthermore, older adults had significantly higher self-enhancing humor scores than the rest of the humor styles; likewise, self-enhancing humor also showed significant increase for adults (from college to older adults).
Overall, the findings suggested that elders prefer the use of self-enhancing humor. In addition, the research also showed the difference of humor styles in various sexes and developmental stages. These findings can be used as experimental data or suggestions for future studies.

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