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Brief Report

Sense of Humor in Health Sciences: A Cross-Sectional Pilot Study Among First-Year Nursing Students in Spain

by
Pablo Fernández-León
1,2,
Javier Fagundo-Rivera
1,*,
Miguel Garrido-Bueno
1,2,* and
Rocío Romero-Castillo
1,2
1
Centro Universitario de Enfermería Cruz Roja, University of Seville, 41009 Seville, Spain
2
Department of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Podiatry, University of Seville, 41009 Seville, Spain
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. Med. Educ. 2025, 4(3), 29; https://doi.org/10.3390/ime4030029
Submission received: 30 June 2025 / Revised: 7 August 2025 / Accepted: 19 August 2025 / Published: 22 August 2025
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Abstract

Humor plays a vital role in human well-being and communication and is increasingly recognized as a beneficial resource in healthcare contexts. While prior studies have explored humor in general university populations, limited research has focused on nursing students, who face distinct interpersonal and emotional demands during their training. This pilot study aimed to describe multidimensional sense of humor among first-year nursing students in Spain using the validated Spanish version of the Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale (MSHS), which includes a three-dimension model: humor competence, humor as a coping mechanism, and social attitudes toward humor. A total of 78 students completed the MSHS questionnaire via an online survey. The overall mean score was 66.8 (SD = 13.1) out of 96, with the highest mean observed in the dimension of humor as a coping mechanism (mean = 22.2, SD = 4.0). Individual item analysis revealed strong agreement with positively worded statements such as “I like a good joke” (mean = 3.36, SD = 0.82) and “Humor is a lousy coping mechanism” (reverse scored; mean = 3.69, SD = 0.67). These findings suggest that humor is a relevant personal and interpersonal resource among future healthcare professionals. Incorporating humor-related competencies in nursing education may support student resilience and enhance patient-centered care. Further research is needed to examine humor’s longitudinal development and its role in clinical practice.

1. Introduction

Humor is a fundamental aspect of human interaction and well-being. It plays a vital role in promoting social bonds, alleviating stress, and promoting psychological resilience [1]. From everyday conversations to moments of crisis, the capacity to appreciate and express humor is consistently linked to improved mood, emotional regulation, and quality of life [2]. As a multidimensional psychological construct, humor encompasses cognitive, emotional, and social components that contribute to an individual’s capacity to cope with challenges and to engage meaningfully with others [3,4].
In the context of the health sciences, the importance of humor becomes particularly pronounced [1]. Healthcare professionals frequently navigate high-stress environments marked by emotional intensity, clinical uncertainty, and interpersonal demands. This includes nurses, who are known to face significant emotional demands throughout their education and professional practice [5,6,7]. In such settings, humor can serve not only as a personal coping strategy but also as a relational tool that raises empathy, reduces tension, and strengthens communication between professionals and patients [8].
In nursing education, particularly at early stages, humor may also hold pedagogical relevance as a mechanism to enhance learning, manage emotional demands, and promote engagement with core professional values [9]. First-year nursing students must rapidly develop foundational competencies such as emotional regulation, interpersonal communication, teamwork, and empathy, often in unfamiliar and demanding clinical settings [10]. Humor, when used constructively, has been associated with improved cognitive flexibility, increased attentional control, and better stress management, skills that are directly aligned with these early-stage educational objectives [11,12]. Furthermore, humor can reduce anxiety and facilitate the integration of theoretical knowledge with practical experience, thus contributing to a more resilient and adaptive learning process [13].
For patients, humor has been associated with a range of positive outcomes across different stages of illness [14,15]. Research suggests that laughter and humorous interactions can help reduce perceptions of pain, alleviate anxiety before and after medical procedures, and improve immune function [16,17]. In chronic or terminal illness contexts, humor may also offer a sense of psychological relief, promote adherence to treatment, and encourage a more hopeful outlook [18]. As such, the strategic and sensitive use of humor by healthcare professionals can contribute meaningfully to holistic, patient-centered care [19].
To evaluate this complex construct, several psychometric tools have been developed. One of the most widely recognized is the Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale (MSHS), originally developed by Thorson and Powell in 1993 [20]. This instrument assesses various facets of humor including humor appreciation, humor production, coping through humor, and social uses of humor. In 2006, a Spanish-language version of the MSHS was translated, culturally adapted, and validated for use in Spanish populations [21]. Another version introduced a model with three dimensions consisting of the following: (1) competence or ability to use humor; (2) humor as a mechanism for controlling the situation; and (3) social evaluation and attitudes toward humor. This model was validated in university students pursuing education degrees of various age ranges [22], but has not yet been applied to students in the field of health sciences.
Despite the well-documented emotional demands of both nursing education and clinical practice, little empirical research has examined how humor, particularly from a multidimensional perspective, is perceived and used by nurses or nursing students [9]. While some studies in Spain have explored humor in broader university populations [21,22,23,24], to our knowledge, no prior research has specifically investigated the multidimensional sense of humor among undergraduate nursing students. This represents a notable gap in the literature, specifically considering the distinct interpersonal and emotional challenges that this group encounters throughout their training and early professional development.
Moreover, the theoretical framework of this study draws from Fredrickson’s Broaden-and-Build Theory [25], which posits that positive affect (such as that elicited through humor) broadens individuals’ thought–action repertoires and builds enduring personal and social resources. Additionally, Posner’s attentional networks model [26] is relevant in understanding how humor may influence attentional engagement and cognitive flexibility during learning and clinical encounters. These frameworks help to conceptualize humor not merely as an emotional or interpersonal phenomenon, but as a potential catalyst for adaptive learning and coping in the formative stages of nursing education [27,28].
Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe the multidimensional sense of humor among first-year nursing students in Spain, using the Spanish version of the MSHS. The selection of first-year students is particularly relevant as they embark on their demanding academic and clinical training, marking the initial phase of their exposure to the profession’s unique stressors and challenges [29]. By doing so, we aim to provide preliminary evidence on the role of humor in the working lives of future healthcare professionals and explore potential avenues for integrating emotional and interpersonal competencies into nursing education.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Participants and Setting

This cross-sectional pilot study was conducted at the Red Cross University Nursing Center in Seville, Spain. The center has a total of approximately 250 undergraduate nursing students enrolled across all four academic years, with one cohort per year. All 78 students enrolled in the first-year cohort during the 2024–2025 academic year were invited to participate. The sample therefore represents a full census of the institution’s first-year nursing students. Although this is a single-center study, it was designed as a pilot to provide exploratory insights and guide future multi-center or national research efforts.
According to the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, approximately 52,293 students were enrolled in nursing degree programs across Spain during the 2022–2023 academic year [30], highlighting the need to interpret this sample within its institutional and regional context.
Inclusion criteria included being a first-year undergraduate nursing student enrolled at the time of the study and providing informed consent. Students who did not complete the full questionnaire were excluded from the analysis.
Students were invited via email to participate by completing an online survey. The survey remained accessible from 25 November to 20 December 2024. Throughout this period, three reminder emails were sent to students who had not yet completed the questionnaire. Survey data were collected and extracted from Google Forms® (accessed on 20 December 2024).
In alignment with the ethical principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki [31], this study received ethical approval from the Research Committee of the Red Cross University Center under the reference code CICR-2025-01.
Participants were informed that their involvement in the study was entirely voluntary, and that no personally identifiable information would be collected, ensuring the anonymity of their responses. Informed consent was obtained online through the first screen of the survey platform, which included an information sheet outlining the study’s purpose and procedures. Participants could only access the questionnaire after actively confirming their consent by selecting a mandatory checkbox. The estimated time to complete the survey was approximately 10 min.
The high response rate (100%) was likely facilitated by several strategies commonly used in educational survey research, including dissemination through internal communication channels and social networks, in-class reminders, and targeted emails. Additionally, time was allocated during mandatory class sessions for students who wished to complete the questionnaire, and the instructor emphasized the importance of nursing research to promote voluntary engagement. No incentives were provided for participation. Nonetheless, the voluntary nature of the study may have introduced response bias, which is acknowledged as a limitation in the discussion.

2.2. Survey Measures

The survey was structured into two main sections:
Sociodemographic Variables, which included sex, age (in years), and employment status (categorized as student only, student with part-time employment, and student with full-time employment).
Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale (MSHS) [20], was employed in its Spanish version, which was first translated, culturally adapted, and validated [21], and subsequently applied in the university context among adult populations [22]. It contains 24 items, 18 of which are worded positively (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, and 24) and 6 negatively (4, 8, 11, 13, 17, and 20). The items are rated on a five-point Likert-type scale. For positively worded items, responses range from strongly disagree (0) to strongly agree (4). Negative items are reverse-scored to reduce fixed response bias and ensure consistency, with scores ranging from strongly disagree (4) to strongly agree (0). The overall MSHS score ranges from 0 to 96, with higher values indicating a more developed multidimensional sense of humor. The Cronbach’s alpha for the original version was 0.91, and 0.89 for the Spanish version [21]. The version applied in the university context comprised three dimensions or subscales; however, internal consistency indices were not reported separately for each dimension [22]:
  • Dimension 1 “Competence or ability to use humor”, scoring zero to 48 (items 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 23, and 24).
  • Dimension 2 “Humor as a mechanism for controlling the situation”, scoring zero to 28 (items 2, 10, 14, 16, 19, 20, and 22).
  • Dimension 3 “Social evaluation and attitudes toward humor”, scoring zero to 20 (items 4, 8, 11, 13, and 17).

2.3. Analysis

The primary outcome measure was individual students’ multidimensional sense of humor in nursing students [32], operationalized through the overall and subscale scores of the MSHS [20].
For descriptive analysis, sociodemographic variables and individual MSHS items were summarized using frequencies and percentages. Means, standard deviations (SD), and minimum and maximum values were calculated for the overall MSHS score and for each of its three dimensions. Internal consistency of the MSHS and its subscales were assessed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficients.
For inferential analysis, age was treated as a quantitative variable. Given that the sample size exceeded 50 participants, the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test was used to assess normality [33]. Age and some MSHS dimensions (D2 and D3) scores did not follow a normal distribution. Accordingly, Spearman’s rank correlation was used to assess associations between age and each dimension. All analyses were conducted using SPSS v26 software.

3. Results

The response rate was 100% (n = 78). Half of the respondents were aged 19–24 years (50.0%). Most participants were female (n = 69), and a majority had student only (80.8%) as their employment status (Table 1).
The descriptive statistics for each of the 24 positive and negative items of the MSHS are visually summarized in Figure 1 and Figure 2, with more detailed information provided in Supplementary Table S1. Globally, participants tended to respond positively to most statements. Notably high mean scores were observed for items such as item 13 (“Humor is a lousy coping mechanism”; reverse scored, mean = 3.69, SD = 0.67), item 14 (“I appreciate those who generate humor”; mean = 3.64, SD = 0.60), and item 10 (“I like a good joke”; mean = 3.36, SD = 0.82), indicating strong agreement. Conversely, lower mean values were reported for item 4 (“I dislike comics”; reverse scored, mean = 0.96, SD = 1.21), item 21 (“I can actually have some control over a group by my uses of humor”; mean = 1.83, SD = 0.99), and item 1 (“Sometimes I think up jokes or funny stories”; mean = 2.15, SD = 1.14), suggesting more neutral or negative attitudes toward those aspects.
As shown in Table 2, the results obtained from the sample regarding the overall instrument and its three dimensions are presented. The overall MSHS score ranged from 34 to 90, with a mean of 66.83 (SD = 13.06), suggesting a global moderate to high sense of humor among the participants. Regarding the three dimensions, the highest mean score was observed in dimension 2 (D2) “Humor as a mechanism for controlling the situation” (mean = 22.24, SD = 4.04; range: 11–28), followed by dimension 1 (D1) “Competence or ability to use humor” (mean = 30.68, SD = 8.73; range: 9–46), and dimension 3 (D3) “Social evaluation and attitudes toward humor” (mean = 13.91, SD = 2.92; range: 8–20). Additionally, internal consistency was assessed through Cronbach’s alpha coefficients, which are reported both for the overall scale (α = 0.907) and for each dimension (D1: α = 0.914, D2: α = 0.770, and D3: α = 0.604). The overall MSHS shows excellent internal consistency (α = 0.907), as does dimension 1 (α = 0.914). Dimension 2 demonstrates acceptable reliability (α = 0.770), while dimension 3 shows a lower alpha value (α = 0.604), suggesting limited internal consistency. These results support the general reliability of the instrument, although the social evaluation and attitudes toward humor dimension may require further refinement.
Finally, Table 3 presents Spearman’s rank correlation among age and the three dimensions of the MSHS. The findings indicate that age was not significantly correlated with any of the MSHS dimensions (Age and D1: rs = 0.032, p = 0.783; Age and D2: rs = 0.045, p = 0.694; Age and D3: rs = 0.109, p = 0.344). Conversely, significant positive correlations were observed among the MSHS dimensions themselves. Specifically, a moderately positive correlation was found between D1 and D2 (rs = 0.547, p < 0.001), and between D2 and D3 (rs = 0.561, p < 0.001). A weak positive correlation was also evident between D1 and D3 (rs = 0.333, p = 0.003). These results collectively suggest that while age does not significantly influence perceived humor dimensions in this sample, the different facets of humor, as measured by the MSHS, are significantly interrelated.

4. Discussion

The findings from this pilot study provide preliminary insights into the multidimensional sense of humor among first-year nursing students in Spain. The overall MSHS mean score (66.8 out of 96) suggests a moderately high level of humor disposition, consistent with the prior literature indicating that humor functions as a common psychological and interpersonal resource among university students and young adults navigating academic and clinical stressors [34].
The psychometric performance of the MSHS in this sample lends support to its overall reliability when applied to first-year nursing students. The strong internal consistency of the total scale and particularly of the competence dimension suggests that the instrument effectively captures core aspects of humor in this context. However, the lower reliability observed in the social attitudes dimension points to potential limitations in how certain items resonate with nursing students at the start of their training. This may reflect variability in how humor is socially perceived or enacted within early professional identity formation, and it highlights an area for future refinement or contextual adaptation of the scale [8].
Additionally, while no associations were found between age and the sense of humor dimensions, likely due to the age homogeneity of the cohort, the intercorrelations among the three dimensions were robust. This suggests that the cognitive, emotional, and social components of humor are not only conceptually linked but also tend to co-occur in practice [35]. Such interconnectedness reinforces the idea of humor as a multidimensional construct and highlights the potential value of developing humor-related competencies in a holistic, rather than fragmented, manner within nursing education [32].
Among the three dimensions, the highest raw mean score was obtained in Dimension 1, “Competence or ability to use humor” (mean = 30.68), followed by Dimension 2, “Humor as a mechanism for controlling the situation” (mean = 22.24), and Dimension 3, “Social evaluation and attitudes toward humor” (mean = 13.91). However, when adjusting for the possible range of scores in each dimension, Dimension 2 achieved the highest relative score (79.4% of its maximum), suggesting that students particularly value humor as an adaptive tool for coping with challenging situations. This profile suggests that nursing students not only value humor, but actively perceive it as a useful mechanism for emotional regulation and stress management in challenging contexts. These results are consistent with prior research highlighting the positive role of humor in promoting resilience in demanding academic and healthcare environments [8,36].
Item-level analysis reinforces this interpretation. High levels of agreement with items such as “I appreciate those who generate humor” (item 14) and “Humor is a lousy coping mechanism” (reverse scored, item 13) reflect strong cognitive and affective engagement with humor as a positive resource. Conversely, lower scores on items such as “I can actually have some control over a group by my uses of humor” (item 21) and “Sometimes I think up jokes or funny stories” (item 1) may suggest a more modest or cautious view of one’s own humor-related social influence.
While these results are promising, they must be contextualized within the existing literature. Previous studies validating the Spanish version of the MSHS were conducted primarily among university students enrolled in Teacher Education programs [21,22], whose academic environments typically emphasize theoretical knowledge and classroom-based learning. In contrast, nursing education presents distinct challenges, including early and sustained exposure to clinical settings, emotional labor, and interpersonal stressors [8,9,36]. For example, Bartzik et al. [8] examined the effects of humor interventions on stress and engagement among nursing university students, while Fang et al. [36] explored how humor styles relate to burnout among practicing nurses. Other recent studies have begun to assess humor use among health science students [34], yet comprehensive analyses focused exclusively on nursing students remain scarce. Given the unique emotional and relational demands of nursing education, understanding how nursing students perceive and utilize humor can provide insights into their coping strategies, interpersonal development, and professional identity formation. Therefore, this line of inquiry offers valuable nuance and reinforces the need to study nursing students independently from both non-health student populations and licensed healthcare professionals [17,19,37].
Moreover, the potential for integrating humor into nursing curricula deserves further consideration. Evidence suggests that humor can reduce anxiety, strengthen social bonds, and support emotional resilience [38,39]. Within nursing education, these outcomes align with core pedagogical goals, such as supporting professional identity development and enhancing interpersonal competence. This emphasizes the importance of recognizing humor not only as a personal resource but also as a competency to be systematically incorporated into nursing education curricula [1,9].
Although humor is often overlooked in formal teaching strategies, nursing educators could consider incorporating humor-related training through reflective activities, communication workshops, or simulated patient interactions that involve emotionally charged or stressful scenarios [1,9,23]. These pedagogical elements could be aligned with established nursing education frameworks, such as the QSEN competencies (Quality and Safety Education for Nurses), particularly those related to patient-centered care, teamwork and collaboration, and emotional intelligence [40]. By framing humor as a soft skill that supports therapeutic communication and resilience, educators can help students cultivate this competency with ethical sensitivity and situational awareness. Furthermore, understanding how students perceive and utilize humor can inform pedagogical strategies that harness humor constructively within the classroom setting [9,17,40].
Additionally, humor in nursing should not be narrowly associated with pediatric care alone [37]. Although humor can play an important role in pediatric interactions [27,41] (e.g., through therapeutic play or anxiety reduction) it is also relevant in diverse settings, including end-of-life care [15], mental health [42,43], chronic illness [44], and team-based work environments [36,45]. Importantly, the ethical use of humor requires attentiveness to context, patient preferences, and cultural norms. Thus, a broader and more inclusive framing of humor as a universal, yet context-dependent, clinical tool in general nursing practice should be proposed [17,19,46].
In interpreting these results, several methodological limitations should be taken into account. First, the cross-sectional design limits our ability to draw causal inferences between humor disposition and potential emotional or academic outcomes. Additionally, the sample was limited to first-year nursing students from a single academic institution in Spain, which may restrict the generalizability of the findings to other educational or cultural settings. The reliance on self-report measures may also have introduced response biases, such as social desirability. Although this approach likely encouraged participation, the voluntary nature of the study may have led to selection bias, as students with a stronger interest in humor or more positive attitudes may have been more inclined to take part.
We considered applying inferential statistics to compare the three MSHS dimensions; however, differences in item count and score ranges made direct comparisons of raw scores inappropriate. Although score standardization was an alternative, our exploratory design was not intended for hypothesis testing. Furthermore, the assumptions required for the repeated measures ANOVA—such as normality and sphericity—were not met, and the small sample size limited statistical power. Therefore, we adopted a descriptive approach and acknowledged this limitation in the Discussion, recommending future studies with larger samples to enable such analyses.
In light of these limitations, future research may benefit from incorporating mixed-method or qualitative approaches to explore the contextual meanings, situational use, and lived experiences of humor among nursing students. Such designs would offer deeper insight into how humor is understood and enacted in relation to academic stress, clinical practice, and peer relationships, dimensions that quantitative instruments alone may not fully capture.
Finally, as this was a pilot study, it is important to reflect on its methodological design. While the use of a previously validated instrument ensured psychometric reliability, we did not pre-test the survey with teaching staff or other university populations. Our focus on first-year nursing students aimed to assess the tool’s relevance in this specific context. Nonetheless, we recognize that pre-testing with a bigger sample of students or educators could have generated valuable feedback on item clarity and contextual fit, particularly since the instrument was originally validated in non-health-related student populations. Additionally, the lack of comparison with educators or licensed nurses (whose perspectives may differ based on professional experience) represents another limitation. The limited national literature on humor among these groups further constrained our scope. Future studies should address these gaps through pre-testing, diverse sampling across institutions, and inclusion of professional profiles to enhance both generalizability and contextual understanding.

5. Conclusions

This pilot study provides initial evidence on the multidimensional sense of humor among first-year nursing students in Spain. The findings reveal moderate to high scores across all three dimensions of the MSHS, particularly regarding the use of humor as a coping mechanism. These results suggest that humor is not only present but meaningfully integrated into the emotional and social framework of nursing students, potentially supporting their adaptation to the demands of academic and clinical training.
Given the established benefits of humor for both healthcare professionals and patients, especially in emotionally charged contexts such as pediatric or chronic care, developing humor-related competencies in nursing education may enhance both student well-being and professional readiness. This could be achieved through the integration of humor-related content in communication skills training, clinical simulation scenarios that allow for the reflective use of humor, and structured workshops focused on emotional intelligence and stress management. Future research with larger samples and longitudinal designs is recommended to further explore how humor develops throughout nursing training and how it may be intentionally adopted as part of holistic, patient-centered care approaches.

Supplementary Materials

The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/ime4030029/s1, Table S1. Description of MSHS items.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, P.F.-L., J.F.-R., M.G.-B. and R.R.-C.; methodology, P.F.-L., J.F.-R., M.G.-B. and R.R.-C.; software, P.F.-L., J.F.-R., M.G.-B. and R.R.-C.; validation, P.F.-L., J.F.-R., M.G.-B. and R.R.-C.; formal analysis, P.F.-L., J.F.-R., M.G.-B. and R.R.-C.; investigation, P.F.-L., J.F.-R., M.G.-B. and R.R.-C.; resources, P.F.-L., J.F.-R., M.G.-B. and R.R.-C.; data curation P.F.-L., J.F.-R., M.G.-B. and R.R.-C.; writing—original draft preparation, P.F.-L., J.F.-R., M.G.-B. and R.R.-C.; writing—review and editing, P.F.-L., J.F.-R., M.G.-B. and R.R.-C.; visualization, P.F.-L., J.F.-R., M.G.-B. and R.R.-C.; supervision, P.F.-L., J.F.-R., M.G.-B. and R.R.-C.; project administration, P.F.-L., J.F.-R., M.G.-B. and R.R.-C. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Institutional Review Board Statement

The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. This study was approved by the Research Committee of the Red Cross University Center under the reference code CICR-2025-01.

Informed Consent Statement

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

Data Availability Statement

The data are contained within the article.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Figure 1. Stacked distribution of responses per positive item.
Figure 1. Stacked distribution of responses per positive item.
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Figure 2. Stacked distribution of responses per negative item.
Figure 2. Stacked distribution of responses per negative item.
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Table 1. Sociodemographic characteristics of first-year nursing students.
Table 1. Sociodemographic characteristics of first-year nursing students.
Age (Years)n = 78
<1930 (38.5%)
19–2439 (50.0%)
>249 (11.5%)
Gender
Female69 (88.5%)
Male9 (11.5%)
Employment status
Student only63 (80.8%)
Student with part-time employment9 (11.5%)
Student with full-time employment6 (7.7%)
Table 2. Description of overall MSHS and its three dimensions.
Table 2. Description of overall MSHS and its three dimensions.
MinimumMaximumMean (SD)Cronbach’s Alpha
D194630.68 (8.730)0.914
D2112822.24 (4.039)0.770
D382013.91 (2.920)0.604
Overall349066.83 (13.064)0.907
SD: Standard Deviation; D1: Competence or ability to use humor; D2: Humor as a mechanism for controlling the situation; D3: Social evaluation and attitudes toward humor.
Table 3. Spearman’s rank correlation among age and each MSHS dimension.
Table 3. Spearman’s rank correlation among age and each MSHS dimension.
Age (Years)D1D2D3
Age (years)Correlation coefficient--
Sig. (two-tailed).
D1Correlation coefficient0.032--
Sig. (two-tailed)0.783.
D2Correlation coefficient0.0450.547 **--
Sig. (two-tailed)0.694<0.001.
D3Correlation coefficient0.1090.333 **0.561 **--
Sig. (two-tailed)0.3440.003<0.001.
D1: Competence or ability to use humor; D2: Humor as a mechanism for controlling the situation; D3: Social evaluation and attitudes toward humor. **: The correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (two-tailed). Sample size was n = 78 for all assessments.
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MDPI and ACS Style

Fernández-León, P.; Fagundo-Rivera, J.; Garrido-Bueno, M.; Romero-Castillo, R. Sense of Humor in Health Sciences: A Cross-Sectional Pilot Study Among First-Year Nursing Students in Spain. Int. Med. Educ. 2025, 4, 29. https://doi.org/10.3390/ime4030029

AMA Style

Fernández-León P, Fagundo-Rivera J, Garrido-Bueno M, Romero-Castillo R. Sense of Humor in Health Sciences: A Cross-Sectional Pilot Study Among First-Year Nursing Students in Spain. International Medical Education. 2025; 4(3):29. https://doi.org/10.3390/ime4030029

Chicago/Turabian Style

Fernández-León, Pablo, Javier Fagundo-Rivera, Miguel Garrido-Bueno, and Rocío Romero-Castillo. 2025. "Sense of Humor in Health Sciences: A Cross-Sectional Pilot Study Among First-Year Nursing Students in Spain" International Medical Education 4, no. 3: 29. https://doi.org/10.3390/ime4030029

APA Style

Fernández-León, P., Fagundo-Rivera, J., Garrido-Bueno, M., & Romero-Castillo, R. (2025). Sense of Humor in Health Sciences: A Cross-Sectional Pilot Study Among First-Year Nursing Students in Spain. International Medical Education, 4(3), 29. https://doi.org/10.3390/ime4030029

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