Self-defeating vs. self-deprecating humour: a case of being laughed at vs. laughed with?

Self-deprecating humour involves gently poking fun at oneself, whilst self-defeating humour is the excessive use of disparaging remarks about oneself. As these two humour styles may present in the same way, in this thesis it was examined whether observers could differentiate between the two and what this perception was based on (e.g., target self-esteem, funniness ratings or observer mood?). Humour plays an essential role in interpersonal relationships and can communicate information about an individual, however, research examining how humour is perceived is limited. Therefore this thesis addressed this gap examining the way in which targets using self-disparaging humour are perceived.