Humor as a Moderator in the Relationship Between Emotional Exhaustion and Depressive Symptoms in University Students and the General Population

Over the past decades, a notable increase in depression and depressive symptoms among university students has been observed, which was further intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic (Ibrahim et al., 2013; Peng et al., 2023; Rotenstein et al., 2016). Depression during the period of higher education is particularly concerning, as it is associated with prolonged illness phases and significant burdens, negatively impacting career prospects (Hysenbegasi et al., 2005) and social relationships (Whitton & Whisman, 2010). Furthermore, its established link to an increased risk of suicide makes it a potentially life-threatening condition (Harris & Barraclough, 1998). Therefore, addressing depression prevention is of paramount importance.

Previous longitudinal studies have shown that burnout, defined by the dimensions of emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced personal efficacy, as outlined in the widely used Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach & Jackson, 1981), predicts depressive symptoms (Ahola & Hakanen, 2007; Armon et al., 2014; Hakanen et al., 2008; Hakanen & Schaufeli, 2012; Koutsimani & Montgomery, 2023; Salmela-Aro et al., 2009; Shin et al., 2013; Toker & Biron, 2012), emphasizing its potential relevance for early intervention and secondary prevention strategies. While burnout is commonly conceptualized as comprising emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced personal efficacy, the present studies focus specifically on emotional exhaustion and cynicism, which are widely considered the core dimensions most closely linked to mental health outcomes (Green et al., 1991; Shirom, 1989). By contrast, reduced personal efficacy shows weaker associations with mental health indicators, especially among students, has been criticized for failing to meet theoretical and psychometric standards, and develops largely independently from emotional exhaustion and cynicism (Cordes & Dougherty, 1993; Demerouti et al., 2003; Ricardo & Paneque, 2014). These core dimensions are present across different contexts, including occupational and academic settings, though their relative importance may vary by population. For instance, reduced personal efficacy appears less relevant among students than among employed adults (Schaufeli et al., 2002).

Although the main empirical evidence suggests that burnout symptoms may precede and predict depressive symptoms in some cases, the conceptual distinction between the two constructs remains a matter of debate. Burnout and depression are undoubtedly intercorrelated and partially overlapping, which has led to concerns about their discriminant validity. However, a recent meta-analysis concluded that burnout and depression are two distinct and robust constructs (Koutsimani & Montgomery, 2023). Importantly, recent theoretical work has further emphasized that equating burnout with depression obscures its systemic and work-related origins, thereby misguiding interventions and hindering necessary organizational reforms (Leiter & and Day, 2025). In line with this conceptual separation, additional support for the sequential relationship between burnout and depressive symptoms comes from studies showing that the severity of burnout symptoms corresponds to an increased susceptibility to major depression (Ahola et al., 2005, 2014; Bianchi et al., 2013; Wurm et al., 2016), suggesting that burnout could predict the development of depression. Although the empirical evidence on this relationship is not entirely consistent (Bakker et al., 2000; Campbell et al., 2010; Koutsimani & Montgomery, 2023; Salmela-Aro et al., 2009; Toker & Biron, 2012), these findings point to the potential value of identifying factors that could prevent burnout from progressing into more severe depressive symptoms, making this a promising approach for secondary prevention.

Empirical evidence supports the existence of potential moderators that may attenuate the association between burnout and depression. For example, Koutsimani and Montgomery (2023) reported a buffering effect of perceived family support on the reciprocal relationship between exhaustion and depression in their 8-month longitudinal study. Similarly, both cross-sectional (Cheng et al., 2020) and longitudinal investigations (Toker & Biron, 2012) indicate that resilience factors and physical activity moderate the relationship between burnout and depression. Given the well-established stress-buffering effects of humor (Magnuson & Barnett, 2013) and the central role of stress in the etiology of burnout and depression (Bakusic et al., 2017; Edú-Valsania et al., 2022; Tafet & Bernardini, 2003), it is surprising that, to the best of our knowledge, the potential moderating role of humor in this context has not been empirically investigated.

While direct evidence is lacking, the conceptualization of humor as a specific form of positive reappraisal provides an additional theoretical rationale for its protective function. This classification is based on the fact that humor can promote a cognitive shift in perspective, enabling individuals to reinterpret stressful situations in a more adaptive and emotionally beneficial way by turning negative emotions into positive ones and thereby facilitating positive reappraisal (Kuiper et al., 1993; Papousek et al., 2023; Perchtold et al., 2019b; Ventis et al., 2001; Weber et al., 2014).

Building on traditional humor research, it is helpful to distinguish between two key dimensions of humor that may be relevant to such coping processes: the ability to produce humor in response to adverse circumstances as a situational skill and the habitual use of humor as a stable, trait-like coping style. Research suggests that both components, humor ability and habitual use, may affect the management of stress, thereby supporting mental health and well-being, a distinction that also reflects broader findings in the field of positive reappraisal, where both situational skills and trait-like tendencies are considered critical for effective coping (Papousek, 2024; Perchtold et al., 2018; Perchtold, Papousek, Perchtold et al., 2019a, b; Webb et al., 2012).

Moderation effects of positive reappraisal ability on the link between cumulative stress, which is per definition the cause of burnout (Maslach et al., 1996), and depressive symptoms have already been demonstrated (Troy et al., 2010). Although such effects have not yet been tested for humor specifically, its close alignment with positive reappraisal suggests that similar protective functions may apply. Furthermore, studies showing the moderating role of humor in empirical research studies are relatively common. Padhy et al. (2024) investigated the moderating role of humor on the relationship between daily hassles and well-being in a large Indian sample (N = 644) indicating that humor reduced the impact of hassles on well-being. Additional studies indicated that humor buffers against unethical leadership (Valle et al., 2018) and promotes resilience and well-being (Cann & Collette, 2014).

In sum, current evidence indicates that protective factors may reduce the positive association between burnout and depression, although these findings should be interpreted with caution, as methodological limitations of existing studies restrict the ability to draw causal conclusions. One such potential protective factor is humor (see e.g., Cann & Collette, 2014; Padhy et al., 2024), an assumption we aimed to test through two studies. Specifically, in Study 1, we examined whether the ability to produce humor within a laboratory paradigm moderates the relationship between burnout and depressive symptoms in university students. In study 2, we investigated the generalizability of this moderation effect with respect to self-rated habit to create humor (i.e., playfulness) in everyday life and in a different population. In both studies, we focused on emotional exhaustion and cynicism, the most central and diagnostically relevant burnout dimensions in student populations, as discussed above.

Study 1 aimed to test the hypothesis that a higher ability to produce humor -operationalized as the capacity to integrate humor in positive reappraisal of threatening situations, assessed using a performance-based approach which integrates linguistic and psychometric methods (Papousek et al., 2023) - would moderate the association between study-related burnout symptoms (i.e., emotional exhaustion and cynicism) and depressive symptoms in university students.

Building on the idea presented in the introduction, that effective use of humor in daily coping involves not only the ability to produce appropriate humor in challenging situations but also the trait-like dimension of humor, the aim of study 2 was to test the hypothesis that the moderating effect of humor on the association between burnout and depressive symptoms found in study 1 also applies to the self-rated habit of creating humor (i.e., playfulness) in everyday life in a larger, more heterogeneous sample. Playfulness can be defined as a tendency to interpret or reinterpret situations in a way that fosters amusement, humor, or entertainment for oneself and potentially for others (Barnett, 2007). As the foundation of humor production, playfulness enables individuals to reframe everyday situations as entertaining or stimulating (Proyer, 2018; Ruch et al., 2019). Thus, there is some conceptual overlap with positive reappraisal, though playfulness represents a broader concept as situations need not necessarily be negative or adverse. Given its beneficial impact on stress (Magnuson & Barnett, 2013; Staempfli, 2007) and well-being (Proyer, 2013, 2014; Proyer et al., 2019), playfulness seems particularly suitable for exploring whether the self-rated trait-like dimension of humor moderates the relationship between burnout and depressive symptoms, as previously shown for the ability dimension of humor in study 1.

The key findings of both studies are that humor ability (study 1) as well as trait playfulness (study 2), both might help to buffer the maladaptive effects of emotional exhaustion on people’s depressive symptoms. This observation strengthens the argumentation that although humor ability and habitual humor use both are distinct constructs which might overlap in their buffering and health related effects. A central difference, however, is that humor ability also moderated the association with cynicism, whereas in Study 2 trait playfulness did not. This lack of significance might be explained by the fact that cynicism reflects a cognitive–attitudinal stance of detachment and distance, whereas emotional exhaustion captures the affective and stress-related core of burnout. Playful coping tendencies may be more effective in alleviating immediate emotional strain than in altering entrenched cognitive attitudes such as cynicism. Taken together, the findings of study 1 and study 2 further corroborate a more differentiated view of the potential benefits of humor on psychological health and well-being (e.g., Padhy et al., 2024). The findings are clearly not in agreement with the view that humor in all its manifestations could be a miracle cure no matter from which level they start (cf. Papousek, 2024).

Rather, the results suggest that among individuals experiencing high levels of emotional exhaustion resulting from subjective stress, both the ability to create humor and the habitual use of humor may be associated with a lower likelihood of reporting severe depressive symptoms. It is important to emphasize, however, that both studies were cross-sectional in nature. Therefore, no causal conclusions can be drawn. Nevertheless, the observed pattern aligns with the conceptualization of humor as a resilience-supporting factor, which might help to buffer the adverse effects (Padhy et al., 2024; Valle et al., 2018).

Resilience refers to the ability to mobilize internal or external resources to maintain psychological well-being in the face of adversity (Panter-Brick & Leckman, 2013). The notion that humorous positive (re-)appraisal may serve as a tool that can be drawn when needed nicely corresponds with this view (Papousek, 2018, 2024). Note that both the concept of resilience and the ability and inclination to create humor require the presence of adverse or stressful circumstances to exert protective effects on an individual’s psychological well-being.

Both studies focused on a humorous view of situations in the individuals lives, that is, on self-generated switches from obvious to unexpected and unusual perspectives of burdensome situations. A generalization of the findings to the perception or consummation of humor produced by others would be inappropriate. Humor reception does not have the same potential to contribute to resilience processes as the creation of situation-relevant humor by oneself. Obviously, as humor produced by somebody else is generally not about oneself, the passive consumption of humor lacks the potential for a change of perspective and positive reappraisal of one’s own problems. It also does not have the potential of becoming a cognitive routine that is instantaneously and automatically activated in the face of adversity (i.e., without conscious intent and awareness; Papousek, 2024).

Humor in the face of adversity may be of value, because compared to more sober positive re-interpretations, the use of humor may give the new perspective an additional positive twist (Kugler & Kuhbandner, 2015; Samson et al., 2014). Thereby, the reappraisal may entail a cognitive shift from negative to not only neutral but even positive aspects of the aversive event (cf. Kuiper, 2012). This is corroborated by the present finding that the ability to produce high-quality (witty) humor but not the fluency in producing humorous ideas showed the relevant protective effect. The importance of humor quality in this context may be explained by the observation that in humor which is perceived as wittier, associations are more remote (Tschacher et al., 2015). These more remote associations may additionally benefit the ability to switch to another perspective and gain emotional distance from the adversity, which are considered crucial elements in the effects of positive reappraisal and humor (e.g., Kuiper et al., 1993; Perchtold et al., 2019; Ventis et al., 2001). The capacity to activate not only positive, but also humorous aspects of adversity may also increase a sense of agency, personal strength, and more challenge focused problem-solving (Cann & Collette, 2014; Kuiper, 2012).

In the present studies, the resilience-enhancing effect of the ability to produce high-quality humor was greater than the effect of humor as a trait-like habit. However, the conclusion that the ability may be more important than the habit would be premature. Due to the many methodological differences, the effect sizes in the two studies cannot be compared directly. For instance, differences in the reliability might be an issue (performance test in more controlled laboratory studies vs. self-report in online survey).

A central question for future research is how the ability to produce appropriate humor and the habitual tendency to use humor for stress coping interact within individuals, and what specific roles these facets play in buffering psychological distress (Padhy et al., 2024). Previous findings suggest that a sufficient ability to generate positive re-interpretations is a direct prerequisite for positive reappraisal in everyday life (Weber et al., 2014). This may also apply to the use of humor as a coping strategy: the habitual tendency to use humor (as reflected in self-reported trait playfulness) may only be beneficial if the humor produced is of high quality, for example in terms of wittiness or appropriateness. Related to this and in line with the present finding that humor quality and playfulness, but not quantity, seemed to support resilience, a previous study showed that participants with a more playful attitude generated higher-quality (wittier) positive reappraisal ideas, whereas there was no association with the sheer quantity of humorous idea production (Papousek et al., 2023). However, our two studies cannot directly address the interplay between humor ability and humor as a trait.

Future prospective studies are needed to specifically test whether, and if so, how the ability to spontaneously create high-quality humor and habitual humor work together to moderate the relationship between burnout and depression, providing further insight into how humor may serve as a buffer which contributes to psychological resilience and well-being.

Both studies are not without limitations. A first key limitation concerns the generalizability of the findings. In Study 1, the relatively small sample size may restrict the robustness of the results. Additionally, in both studies, the sample was predominantly female, which may limit the applicability of the findings to male participants. Age-related differences may also be relevant, as one participant in Study 1 was 60 years old. We retained this individual to reflect the diversity of the student population, and exclusion did not strongly affect the buffering effect of humor on the relationship between emotional exhaustion and depression. However, future studies should examine potential age-related effects more systematically.

Second, the use of a single item on playfulness to assess humor in Study 2 limits measurement reliability and construct specificity. As playfulness is related but not identical to humor as a habit, future research should employ established humor scales to capture this trait-like construct more comprehensively such as the Humor Styles Questionnaire (Martin et al., 2003) which allows to differentiate between adaptive and maladaptive humor use (for a short overview of questionnaires see e.g., Ruch et al., 2014).

Third, the cross-sectional design of both studies does not allow for conclusions about the causal direction of the observed effects. The reduced association between emotional exhaustion and depressive symptoms in students with greater humorous abilities/enhanced habitual use of humor might also be due to a third variable such as better executive functioning or more positive affect, well-being, or higher life satisfaction. Furthermore, the conceptual overlap between burnout and depressive symptoms remains a relevant concern. Since both constructs are highly inter-correlated (Ahola et al., 2014; Bianchi et al., 2015), it is still debated whether they represent distinct entities (see e.g., Bianchi et al., 2021; Orosz et al., 2017). However, previous findings from factor analytic (Bakker et al., 2000; Leiter & Durup, 1994; Toker & Biron, 2012) and neurobiological studies (Grossi et al., 2003; Toker et al., 2005) support the discriminability between burnout and (severe) depressive symptoms (for a meta-analysis see Koutsimani et al., 2019). The empirical evidences of a directional relationship from burnout to severe depressive symptoms (Ahola & Hakanen, 2007; Armon et al., 2014; Bauernhofer et al., 2018; Shin et al., 2013) as well as bidirectional findings (Koutsimani & Montgomery, 2023; Toker & Biron, 2012) justify, in our view, the search for protective factors with the potential to prevent this transition.

Forth, not all types of humor involve more positive views of a situation. Accordingly, in previous studies only the use of benign (but not of disparaging or aggressive) styles of humor was related to fewer depressive symptoms and less negative affectivity as a personality trait (Perchtold et al., 2019; see also Papousek, 2024). The present study did not investigate humor types such as aggressive, sarcastic, or cynical humor in detail (see Papousek, 2024 for overview). Future studies investigating the moderating effect of humor might benefit from discriminating between bright and dark types of humor (Papousek et al., 2017).

Fith, in interpreting these findings, it is important to consider that burnout is a multidimensional construct. Our studies focused on emotional exhaustion and cynicism, which are especially relevant in academic contexts (Schaufeli et al., 2002). However, reduced personal efficacy may play a greater role in other populations, such as the general workforce. These differences underline the need for population-specific approaches in understanding and preventing burnout-related mental health risks.

Given the consistent pattern of findings provided by a well-controlled laboratory study and a large-scale online questionnaire study, the active use of humor appears as a promising resilience factor in the context of secondary prevention and intervention programs by potentially reducing the risk for showing severe depressive symptoms in individuals with elevated burnout symptoms. As the use of humor may amplify the benefits of positive reappraisal (Samson et al., 2014), interventions aiming at encouraging the use of positive reappraisal may additionally benefit from practicing the incorporation of humor. Empirical studies confirmed that the ability to create positive re-interpretations (Perchtold-Stefan et al., 2024) as well as the creation of humor can be trained with systematic programs (e.g., Falkenberg et al., 2011; Ruch et al., 2018; Tagalidou et al., 2019). In such interventions, individuals should learn and practice to create their own humor. For different action modi, the passive consumption of somebody else’s humor does not have the same potential to improve resilience processes. The basic ability to create humor in the context of positive reappraisal seems largely unimpaired in bad moods (Papousek et al., 2023), as well as in patients with subclinical depressive symptoms and remitted or even acute major depression (Braniecka et al., 2019; Edwards & Martin, 2010; Freiheit et al., 1998). Of course, there may be other obstacles to humor interventions in individuals with high emotional exhaustion or depressive symptoms that must be tackled, such as lack of motivation to incorporate humor in one’s life (Papousek et al., 2023). Individuals with high depressive symptoms might not derive equivalent levels of enjoyment from humor (Falkenberg et al., 2010; Horner et al., 2014), which goes a long with reduced interest in stimuli associated with otherwise positive or rewarding experience (Falkenberg et al., 2010). Also, cognitive decline in normal aging, neurological disease and depression may compromise some of the cognitive processes required in the creation of humor (e.g., Chen et al., 2019; Rominger et al., 2018; Weiss et al., 2013). Nonetheless, given the rising concern about depression among university students, our findings suggest humor as a potential resilience factor, offering a promising approach to reducing depression risk in those with high burnout levels.