How To Use Humour To Handle Conflicts

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'Laughter is the best medicine'- We know it but we simply don't practice it. Humour can be an effective tool for not only attracting other people but also solving conflicts in relationships. It not only elevates someone's mood but also makes them more resilient.

If your relationship is new, it can be like an icebreaker. Laughing with your partner can create a positive bond between you and your partner. It is humour that keeps a relationship fresh, vibrant and exciting and helps one to get past tiny conflicts, disagreements, and past conflicts without offending anyone. This will help to bond better with your partner by creating a sense of connection and intimacy.

A study conducted on 71 heterosexual romantic couples which included spontaneously generated laughs was coded from a video-recorded conversation about how the couple first met. Multilevel models revealed that while controlling for all other laughter present, the proportion of the conversation spent laughing simultaneously with the romantic partner was uniquely positively associated with global evaluations of relationship quality, closeness, and social support.

How Can Humour Help You?

• Helps One To Bond Stronger- The quality of your relationship can bind both of your together and the humour can be a cherry on top because it will contribute to one's happiness.
• Calms Down The Tension- To dissolve disagreements, A well-timed joke can ease a tense situation and help you resolve disagreements.
• Helps To Reduce Setbacks- Humour will help you to tackle hardships better and help the person deal with disappointment and bounce back from loss or crisis.
• Put Things Into Perspective- Not all situations are intense and a dose of laughter will lighten it up because it can help you reframe the way you see situations.
• Soothes The Differences- When the humour is gentle it will often help you to address issues that are sensitive in nature.
• Be More Creative- Energize your thinking with humour and use it to solve problems in a creative way. Being playful will make the situation easy for both partners to tackle it.

No relationship is a cakewalk and conflicts are an inevitable part of it. This can be the reason why small aggravations are built over time and turn a relationship into a messy one. Therefore, managing conflict is essential and when it is respectfully and skillfully done with humour, it can bring your relationship back on track.

Here's how to use humour to handle conflicts in a relationship

Humour is always about poking fun at the problem and not individuals and is a powerful tool when tension touches the ceiling and you want to bring it down.

1. Do Not Use Humour As A Cover-Up For Other Problems

Humour is only good when it is not used to cover up other problems in your life instead of coping with them. Covering up the truth is never healthy for a relationship. Laughter can be used to hide feelings, pain, anger, fear and disappointment, when one tries to avoid them or is not sure how to express them. This can create mistrust between partners and generate confusion in a relationship.

2. Make Sure People Around You Understand Your Joke

Some jokes are not funny and they can hurt other people through harsh comments and criticism. A conflict can be resolved when both parties participate in the joke and their level of humour is the same. While making a joke it is essential that they are sensitive to the other person so that trust and mutual understanding are not affected and a relationship doesn't get messy.

3. Adapt humour Depending On The Situations You Are In

While developing a sense of humour, it is essential to adapt it different circumstances, especially ones that are stressful. No matter what the subject when you take the tension off the matter, your partner will value your efforts. Do not use sarcasm, as it can hurt others or make self-derogatory comments. The idea is to lighten up the situation and not create additional problems.