Table 2. Personal and Situational Factors Associated with the Perceived Importance and Experience of Humor, Laughter, & Happiness (HLH) Among Recently Bereaved Persons, Living After Loss Study (n = 292).
| EXPERIENCE OF HLH
(Range = 5 to 25) |
IMPORTANCE OF HLH
(Range = 2 to 10) |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Correlation | Mean | Std Dev | Sig. | Correlation | Mean | Std Dev | Sig. | |
| Total Sample | 20.5 | (3.7) | 8.7 | (1.2) | ||||
| Age a | 0.04 | ns | 0.04 | ns | ||||
| Sexb | ||||||||
| Female | 20.3 | (3.8) | ns | 8.7 | (1.2) | ns | ||
| Male | 20.7 | (3.4) | 8.7 | (1.2) | ||||
| Education c | ||||||||
| High School or Less | 19.8 | (4.3) | ns | 8.8 | (1.1) | ns | ||
| Some College | 20.2 | (3.6) | 8.6 | (1.3) | ||||
| College Grad or More | 20.9 | (3.4) | 8.8 | (1.1) | ||||
| Race c | ||||||||
| White | 20.7 | (3.3) | * | 8.8 | (1.1 | * | ||
| Black | 21.5 | (3.6) | 8.9 | (1.0 | ||||
| Other | 17.3 | (5.8) | 8.1 | (1.8) | ||||
| Site b | ||||||||
| San Francisco | 20.0 | (4.3) | ns | 8.7 | (1.3) | ns | ||
| Salt Lake City | 20.7 | (3.2) | 8.7 | (1.1) | ||||
| Death Forewarning b | ||||||||
| Expected Death | 21.1 | (3.1) | * | 8.9 | (1.1) | * | ||
| Did Not Expect Death | 19.7 | (4.1) | 8.6 | (1.3) | ||||
| Weeks Bereaved a | 0.07 | ns | 0.07 | ns | ||||
| Years Married a | 0.09 | ns | 0.04 | ns | ||||
|
Marital Happiness a
(1= very unhappy; 7= very happy) |
-0.11 | ns | -0.01 | ns | ||||
*
Association is statistically significant at p < 0.05 level (2-tailed)
ns
Association is not statistically significant
a
Correlation analysis assessed bivariate statistical association
b
Independent Samples t-test assessed statistical differences between categories
c
One-way ANOVA assessed statistical differences between categories with Scheffe posthoc pairwise comparisons (Blacks and Whites were statistically different from those in the other category)