Localizing gelotophobia, gelotophilia, and katagelasticism in domains and facets of maladaptive personality traits : a multi-study report using self- and informant ratings

Abstract

We extend the knowledge on dispositions toward ridicule and being laughed at (gelotophobia, gelotophilia, and katagelasticism) by testing their localization in a system of maladaptive personality traits. Across two studies, we used self-ratings (Ntotal = 1,438) and informant reports (Ntotal = 378 dyads). The differential associations for the dispositions fit well with expectations: Negative Affectivity, Detachment and Psychoticism characterize gelotophobia; gelotophilia relates to Disinhibition and low Detachment; and predominantly Antagonism characterizes katagelasticism. Facet-wise analyses (Study 2) allowed more fine-grained descriptions. Condition-based regression analyses showed that the laughter-related dispositions did not relate to discrepancies of self-informant views on maladaptive personality traits. Our findings contribute to understand the maladaptive personality traits of gelotophobes, gelotophiles, and katagelasticists.