Caring with Humor: How Cognitive Flexibility Enhances Humor and Playfulness in Clown Doctors

Despite the growing interest in healthcare clowning and its effectiveness across various settings, there has been a lack of research exploring specific features of clown doctors, such as their humor styles, playfulness, and cognitive flexibility (CF). This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the relationships between these three variables in a sample of 210 Italian clown doctors. Participants completed a brief demographic questionnaire, the Comic Styles Markers (i.e., Fun, Benevolent Humor, Nonsense, Wit, Irony, Satire, Sarcasm, and Cynicism), the Short Measure of Adult Playfulness, and the CF Scale. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that CF positively predicted Playfulness, Benevolent Humor, and Wit, while it was negatively related to Sarcasm. This increased CF is reflected in the use of more adaptive forms of humor (Benevolent Humor and Wit) and less negative ones (Sarcasm), as well as an increase in Playfulness, which represents a distinctive characteristic of clown doctors. These results are discussed in light of the training required to become clown doctors, where improvisation is a key element that fosters cognitive flexibility.