Joke’s on you. Your choice of comedy can make you feel better or worse!

They say that laughter is the best medicine but did you know that there are, in fact, different types of humour, each with its own list of benefits?

According to a recent study, there can also be a dark side to humour. Researchers from Italy set out to understand the relationship with specific categories of humour, worry and well-being.

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In the study, published in Personality and Individual Differences, they found that people who engaged in fun and benevolent humour (which are positive styles of comedy) generally reported lower levels of pathological worry and higher levels of psychological well-being.

In contrast, those who veered towards cynicism tended to have lower levels of well-being and higher stress levels.

The team explained fun humour to constitute spreading good mood and companionship while benevolent humour meant discovering humorous discrepancies in everyday experiences. Cynical humour was defined as devaluing commonly recognized values.

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Further, the team said that other senses of humour such as wit, irony, sarcasm, and nonsense did not appear to cause a notable change in well-being.