Humour as coping and Flow as correlates of Subjective Happiness among Athletes and Non-athletes

This study intends to find out if humour as coping and flow could  significantly be different among athletes and non-athletes, and if the above mentioned variables show any kind of relationship with subjective happiness. A sample of 62 athletes and 75 non-athletes aged between 16 and 22 were selected for the study. Inventories were used to collect the data. It includes The Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) by Lyubomirsky (1999) , The Coping Humour Scale(CHS) developed by .A Martin (1983)  and Flow State Scale by Jackson (1995). Demographic information including their age, gender, education level, and sporting involvement was also collected. The obtained results showed that Flow and humour are significantly higher for athletes than non-athletes. Flow and humour is also found to have a significant positive correlation with subjective happiness. Males are found to experience greater subjective happiness than females and they use more humour as coping. National level players experience more flow state than state level players. Second born children were found to be more happier than first born children.  Thus within the limits and limitations of the present study results imply that engagements in athletic activities enhances humour coping and flow which contribute to better subjective happiness.