Humorous communication, verbal aggressiveness, and father–son relational satisfaction

This study examines the role of humor orientation and reported humorous communication behaviors during father–son conflict in predicting relational satisfaction. In addition, the main effect and interaction effect (with humor orientation) of verbal aggressiveness on relational satisfaction is investigated. A survey of adult father–son pairs pinpoints an interesting network of findings linking general humor orientations, verbal aggressiveness, reported use of humorous messages during conflict, and relational satisfaction within the father–son relationship. Key findings include: Sons’ relational satisfaction is predicted by lower fathers’ verbal aggressiveness for those with fathers who report a very high humor orientation. On the other hand, fathers’ relational satisfaction is predicted by lower levels of sons’ humor orientation, and not by verbal aggressiveness. Further, sons’ relational satisfaction is negatively related to the reported use of types of humorous messages in a father–son conflict event.