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From the finding that a sense of humour is positively correlated with psychological well-being, What can we conclude?

1) Health causes people to be funnier.
2) People who have a good sense of humour tend to be less healthy.
3) People who have a good sense of humour tend to be healthier.
4) Humour causes people to be healthier.

1 Answer

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Final answer:

The correct conclusion from the finding that there is a positive correlation between a sense of humour and psychological well-being is that people with a good sense of humour tend to be healthier. Correlation, however, does not establish causation, meaning we cannot confirm if humour directly improves health or if health influences humour.

Step-by-step explanation:

From the finding that a sense of humour is positively correlated with psychological well-being, we can conclude that people who have a good sense of humour tend to be healthier. This is option 3) People who have a good sense of humour tend to be healthier. However, it is important to note that correlation does not imply causation. This means that while there is a positive relationship between a sense of humour and psychological well-being, we cannot determine from this information alone whether having a sense of humour actually causes improved health, which would be suggested by option 4) Humour causes people to be healthier, or if healthier people are more likely to have a good sense of humour as implied by option 1) Health causes people to be funnier.

Anthropological research, such as that conducted by George Murdock, has identified humour as a cultural universal that may contribute to group cohesion and help mitigate stress. Additionally, humour's association with better social support and interaction could lead to healthier behaviors and overall well-being. Given the complexities of psychosocial dynamics, humour may represent just one of the psychosocial needs that contribute to health and well-being. It reflects an interaction of mental, physical, and social health as suggested by the integrated view of overall health.

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