don't skirt using humor at work: gender differences in workplace humor and how to deal with...

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Don’t Skirt Using Humor at WorkGender Differences in Workplace Humor and How To Deal With Them

Copyright © 2015 Rockwell Automation, Inc. All Rights Reserved.PUBLIC

Introduction

Melanie Barker (that’s me!)

Industrial Engineer, University of Florida and University of Central Florida

11 years at Walt Disney World

5 years with Rockwell Automation

How this presentation came to be…


Because a presentation on humor must begin with a joke…


Or two…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6F7hz0Bi5E&feature=youtu.be&t=1m30s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6F7hz0Bi5E&feature=youtu.be&t=1m30s


Warning: Generalizations Ahead!


Main Topics

1. How do men and women differ in their use of humor?

2. How does humor get used in the workplace and why is it important to career advancement?

3. How do these gender differences impact humor in the workplace?


Humor Types

Self-enhancing

Humor

Affiliative Humor

Self-defeating

Humor

Aggressive Humor

Affiliative – funny jokes, one-liners that

amuse while enhancing relationships

Self-enhancing – usually a coping

mechanism to assist with maintaining a

positive attitude

Self-defeating – using one’s own

weaknesses or faults as the butt of the

joke

Aggressive – sarcasm, put-downs, or

other disparagement

Positive Humor

Negative Humor

Directed

at OneselfDirected

at Others


Humor – Men vs. Women

Men and women do tend to use humor in different ways.

Women share funny stories and use a narrative approach. Puns, self-deprecating humor, and

wordplay make up more of their humor.

Men prefer one-liners and are more likely to use physical and active humor. They are less likely to be

offended by sexual and insult jokes than women.

Women use different parts of their brains when viewing funny cartoons than men; the language

processing and working memory parts of the brain were more heavily activated. Their brains also

activated the parts of the brain associated with gratifying feelings more intensely.


More Differences and Humor Types

Men use humor to establish hierarchy in groups and to compete with other men for position.

Aggressive humor from higher status individual towards lower status can help gain behavioral

compliance.

Finding similarities was another common goal of humor usage for men.

Women use humor to bond with others in the group and build solidarity.

Within mixed-gender groups, men used less aggressive humor.

Women used less self-deprecating humor in the mixed-gender group and directed more teasing

towards the men.


Are men funnier than women?

Barely, and mostly to other men.

Both women and men rate men as having

a better sense of humor.

In a blind study, humor produced by men

and women was rated equally funny.

Both genders misattributed the funnier

quotes to men.


So why do we think men are funnier?

Because of the differences in humor usage,

sometimes one gender’s humor isn’t as

amusing to the other.

Women are still culturally conditioned to avoid

offending others. Humor can mean taking a

risk of upsetting people if the joke falls flat.

Studies from research before the 1980s did

find men to have better senses of humor.

Later review of these studies showed that the

jokes used in these studies were potentially

offensive to women.


A man and a woman walk into a bar…

There is one place where humor usage differs significantly between the sexes: dating.

The more a woman laughed at a man’s jokes during their initial meeting was a direct indicator of how

interested she was in dating him. It also correlated with the man’s interest in dating her. How often the

man laughed had no correlation to interest by either party.

Men tend to be the humor creators and women are the humor appreciators. Women choose funnier

men as partners but men do not show the same preference for funny women.

High-status men who used self-deprecating humor were viewed positively, while low-status men were

viewed negatively for using it.

Both men and women were viewed negatively for using humor that deprecated others; the effect was

even more pronounced for high-status individuals.


Why the difference in this area?

Evolutionary biology theorizes that women are attracted to a man with a good sense of humor because it may be a sign of intelligence, social desirability, and overall genetic fitness.

Men are looking for healthy partners, so youth, attractiveness and appearance of good health are emphasized before intelligence.

Interestingly, long-term relationships fare better if the woman is the producer of humor. The use of humor by men during significant life stressors has a higher association with negative outcomes versus when women use humor to help the couple cope.


Why is humor in the workplace important?

Used appropriately, humor can improve

communication, reduce stress, enhance

leadership, and promote organizational

culture.

Companies like Southwest Airlines, Ben &

Jerry’s, and Zappos have used humor to build

their brands with consumers and to improve

loyalty and retention with their employees.

One study done by Bell Leadership Institute

found that the two most desirable traits in a

leader were a strong work ethic and a good

sense of humor.


Other ways humor helps

Makes people more approachable

Humor often reveals the real person. When people are comfortable with and trust you, they are

more open and honest with you.

Offers more solutions to help solve conflicts and can help defuse tension

When laughter is the response to conflict, it helps us shift from convergent thinking with only one

solution to divergent thinking with multiple solutions. Research now points to increased

production of serotonin as the cause.

Enables focusing on repetitive tasks easier by reducing tension and boredom.

Reduces stress and promotes morale by making the work environment a pleasanter place to be.


Humor and management

A Robert Half International survey found that 91% of executives consider a good sense of humor

important for career advancement. 84% feel that people who are funny do a better job.

There are four critical areas where utilizing humor can help a leader be more effective

Promoting creativity

Facilitating learning

Helping change behavior

Reducing fear of change


Cultural Differences

Different cultures have different perceptions of the humor styles.

In China, use of positive humor showed similar results as in the US. Self-deprecating humor was

more acceptable, but could be seen as a sign of weakness if taken too far. Aggressive, insult jokes or

sarcastic remarks were not always viewed as even being humorous. This difference in perception was

even more pronounced for men than for women, both for use of negative and positive humor.

India has a wide variety of humor due to the population size and regional / religious differences. In

general, positive humor is best – dark humor is not always appreciated and jokes aimed at authority

figures or religion can easily offend.

Germans enjoy a wide spectrum of jokes and humor but tend to find them out of place in serious

business discussions.


Start with the bad news

Humor can be used to show who is a member of the tribe. When used this way, it can also be used to

exclude nonmembers, especially when that field is dominated by one gender.

Because of the differences in perception of gender humor, it can be difficult for women to respond to

humor directed negatively at them.

Even when women try to use humor, it isn’t always successful. A UK study of executive board

meetings showed that only 20% of women’s jokes generated a positive response. 70% of the time,

the women had used self-deprecating humor as the key to the joke.

In contrast, 90% of the men’s jokes were successful. Unsurprisingly, men were three times more likely

to joke while leading a meeting.

Jokes made by senior professional women were often judged to be “contrived, defensive, or just

mean.”

Negative humor is perceived much more poorly when used by female managers versus male

managers.


When humor is used as a weapon

Aggressive humor used against women is not harmless – a research project led by a Western

Carolina University psychology professor found that exposure to sexist humor can lead to toleration of

hostile feelings and discrimination against women.

Address the offender – they may not be aware of the impact of their jokes.

Document, document, document.

Talk to your HR department.

Find allies within your team.


Now on to the good news

The type of humor that tends to come naturally to women has been shown to be more effective in

generating positive results in the workplace.

Use of positive humor benefits women more than men.

One study that observed effective female managers found that they used humor before and after a

display of authority. This allowed them to give orders without the negative perceptions that can affect

female leaders using power.


The Real Final Recommendations

Talk about it – increasing awareness of how men and women use humor and how it’s perceived can

help make people aware of their own unconscious biases.

Think about your humor style. Belittling yourself with a joke is a typical use of humor for women, but

it’s interpreted very differently by men. Self-deprecating humor may help to make someone feel less

threatened, but be careful about insulting your intelligence or ability.

Use positive humor when possible – not only is it less likely to be negatively perceived, but women

also receive more benefit from using positive humor than men do.

Don't poke fun at abilities, race, religion, gender or anything that other people couldn't change in

the next five minutes. Make fun of events, not people.

Watch your speed when telling a joke – a lot of people rush the punchline, which can make it hard to

understand.


The Final, Final Recommendations

Teach yourself to look and think outside the box. Look for absurdity and incongruity in situations to

develop your sense of humor.

Use humor created by others (where appropriate) if you’re unsure about your own.

Practice! But please don’t be a Mr. Collins.


Acknowledgements

Rockwell SWE members: Chaucey Chandler, Nelly Gillman, Ann Krieger, and Nancy Zupick for going

through earlier versions of this presentation and offering a lot of useful feedback.

Lynne Parker of FunnyWomen.com for corresponding with a random stranger on the internet who

emailed her asking for suggestions.


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