Subjective happiness, humor sense, and personality in teaching

Abstract

The research aims to analyze, firstly, the relationship between different psychological variables of the teachers, that is, subjective happiness, sense of humor and personality. Secondly, to determine the factorial structure of these variables. 454 teachers (24.4% males and 65.6% females), with a mean age of 40.4 years (SD = 10.50) and an average teaching experience of 14.03 years, took part in the study. 15% worked in Early Childhood Education (n = 68), 26.2% in Primary Education (n = 119), 43.6% in Secondary Education (n = 198) and 15.2% in Higher Education (n = 69). The instruments used were the following: Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS), Multidimensional Humor Sense Scale (MSHS), and Big Five Inventory-10 items (BFI-10). The results derived from the correlation analysis indicated positive correlations between the different dimensions analyzed, except for the Neuroticism personality trait, in which they were negative. In addition, factorial analysis showed three factors: A first factor formed by the different components of the Humor Sense and the personality trait of Extraversion; a second factor that integrated subjective happiness, the personality trait of Agreeableness and Emotional Stability (the opposite of Neuroticism); and a third factor that included the personality traits of Conscientiousness and Openness to experience. The need to address these psychological variables in the professional development of the teacher is discussed.

Keywords

• felicidad subjetiva
• sentido del humor
• personalidad
• docentes