Buffering and burdening patterns of meta‑inner humor beliefs in the affect–distress association across levels of mindfulness and comic style profiles

Abstract

Mental distress symptomatology continues to be a central focus in clinical psychology and psychotherapy. Following the buffer-or-burden framework, the present study examined the relationship between affect and mental distress through adaptive and maladaptive meta-inner humor beliefs (MIHBs)—using humor for repetitive negative thoughts—across different levels of conditional processing involving mindfulness and comic styles. A sample comprising 840 adults (65% female; M = 35.09 years, SD = 10.32) completed an online survey comprising a number of psychometric instruments. Conditional analyses showed three distinct patterns: (i) a catalyst-like pattern whereby adaptive MIHBs appeared to diminish the positive affect–distress association only at moderate levels of mindfulness, remaining inactive when mindfulness was low or high; (ii) athreshold-like pattern observed in comic styles, with the protective role of light humor dissipating at elevated exposure, and dark humor (such as sarcasm and cynicism) nullifying adaptive MIHBs; and (iii) reversal-like patterns, wherein maladaptive MIHBs transitioned from augmenting to alleviating distress under elevated engagement with cognitively complex styles (such as nonsense and irony), consistent with possible psychological distancing or non-linear interactions. MIHBs contributed to distress indirectly, over and above the direct effects of affect, highlighting metacognitive humor beliefs as transdiagnostic self-regulatory processes that depend on attentional stance and humor repertoire. The findings connect decentering with mindfulness and comic-style theories, suggesting potential targets to strengthen adaptive MIHBs and reduce maladaptive MIHBs within mindful, light-humor contexts. Consistent with transdiagnostic emotion theory, the results suggest MIHBs as modifiable, process-level factors suitable for unified cognitive-behavioral interventions applicable to anxiety, mood, and stress disorders.