The Use of Humor in the Workplace

Presenter:葉怡芬 (Julia)

Student’s No:NA2C0017

Professor:鍾榮富

At first, just smile!

Outline(1)• Introduction• Role of Humor in the workplace• A definition of Humor• Types of Humor

1. Affiliative Humor

2. Self-Enhancing Humor

3. Aggressive Humor

4. Mild Aggressive Humor

5. Self-Defeating Humor

• Organizational Outcomes 1. Group Cohesiveness

2. Communication

3. Stress Reduction

4. Creativity

5. Organizational Culture

6. Leadership

Outline(2)

• Individual Differences1. Ethnicity

2. Gender

• Possible Negative Effects of Humor• Integrating Humor in Organizations

Inroduction• Despite the belief that business is serious, humor can lighten

the mood within organizational environments and make work life more enjoyable.

• Humor is a common element of human interaction and therefore has an impact on work groups and organizations.

• Humor is more than just funny concepts ; it represents a mltifunctional management tool that can be used to achieve many objectives.

• This article describes how managers can use humor to reduce stress and enhance leadership , group cohesiveness , communication ,creativity and organizational culture.

Role of Humor in the workplace

• Humor is an important part of the organizational culture of successful companies such as Ben & Jerry’s (Castelli1990), Southwest Airlines (Barbour 1998) and so on.

• The current business environment is stressful because organizational commitment is often low and turnover is a significant problem that may contribute to teams with weak social bonds.

• Humor has the potential to remedy some of these problems

and promote healthy social relations in the workplace.

A Definition of Humor • Humor is “any communicative instance which perceived as

humorous” (Martineau 1972).

• Humor consists of nonverbal and verbal communications which produce a “positive cognitive or affective response from listeners” (Crawford 1994).

• Consistent with these definitions, we propose that

organizational humor consists of amusing communications that produce positive emotions and cognitions in the individual, group, or organization.

Types of Humor(1)Affiliative humor

(a)Function:

People who use affiliative humor joke around with

others and attract them with forms of humor that

focus on enhancing social interaction.

(b)Example:

It includes funny stories particular to a group , inside jokes, and good–natured practical jokes that are traditionally played on people during social events.

Types of Humor(2) Self-enhancing Humor

(a)Function:

People who exhibit self- enhancing humor have a humorous view of life and can deal with stress with a positive perspective.

This type of humor is used to enhance his/her image relative to others in the group organization.

Lastly, this humor style is centered more on the individual when compared to affiliative humor.

Types of Humor(3)Aggressive Humor

(a)Function:

Individuals who employ aggressive humor often aim to manipulate others by means of an implied threat of ridicule.

Aggressive humor can be used to victimize, belittle and cause others some type of disparagement.

(b)example:

This style is consistent with superiority theory, which postulates that people make themselves feel better at another’s expense in order to achieve , or perceive that they have achieved, higher or status.

Types of Humor(4)Mild Aggressive Humor

(a)Function:

We believe that mild aggressive humor can have positive functions .

(b)Example:

When manifested as satire or teasing , mild aggressive humor can communicate a forceful reprimanding message but with a humorous and positive tone.

It also allows one to express disagreement and conflict without negative affect since the message is delivered in a playful manner.

Types of Humor(5) Self-defeating Humor

(a)Function:

People who utilize self-self-defeating humor ridicule themselves in an attempt to amuse and seek acceptance

from others.

(b)Example:

People use this style often desire to reduce their status level and make themselves more approachable.

Organizational Outcomes(1)Group Cohesiveness(a)

Some factors that enhance group cohesiveness are perceptual in nature and can be broadly categorized as external and internal.

External force : Individuals who feel the threat of external competition could use aggressive humor by making jokes about their competitors.

Internal force : Such as new member initiation can take the form of mild aggressive humor.

Senior members who feel responsible to maintain group integrity can use the mild aggressive humor to shape their behavior so that they conform to group norms and prove themselves worthy of group membership.

Group cohesiveness(b) Example:

The relationship is common in university sports teams .New players were teased by senior team members until the new players demonstrated that they could perform comparably to veterans . When desired performance was achieved , the senior members discontinued teasing.

Humor also has a positive effect on the socialization process by making interactions less tense.

**Suggestion : We propose that using both affiliative and self-enhancing humor promotes group cohesion.

Group cohesiveness(c) According to McGhee, humor has the following effect on

group cohesiveness:

Shared laughter and the spirit of fun generates a

bonding process in which people feel closer together-

especially when laughing in the midst of adversity.

This emotional glue enables team members to

stick together on the tough days, when members of

the team need each other to complete a project and

assure quality customer service (McGhee 1999).

Organizational Outcomes(2) Communication(a)

Humor is common in many forms of communication

and relevant to the study of organizations. Humor in communication creates an open atmosphere

by awakening positive emotions that enhance

listening, understanding, and acceptance of

messages. Example1:

Actors in commercials often utilize self-enhancing humor to make a connection with the audience and to help the audience identify with them.

Communication(b) Example 2:

Politicians such as Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton were known for their selective application of moderate self-defeating humor to make themselves seem like common citizens.

Example 3:

Group members often use affiliative humor . It can accomplish the same goal as moderate self-defeating and focus on similarities within the group and share humor.

**Suggestion : We propose that mild aggressive humor can be employed to communicate the need for behavioral changes without incurring negative affect.

Organizational Outcomes(3) Stress Reduction

When making a joke about a stressful situation, one

develops a sense of dominance and control over it

, which is incompatible with stress and anxiety.

In other words, joking about a stressful event (e.g., downsizing) makes it less threatening.

Example1: Humor reduces stress in the military by mocking the risk of death in marching songs and jokes.

Humor makes people feel that they are not afraid;

without fear they feel a greater sense of control

(Dixon 1980), which is incompatible with feeling stress.

Stress Reduction

Affiliative humor may be applied within a group to ease tension resulting from stressful events because it creates a collective atmosphere so that stress-causing factors are shared and managed by all members.

Self-enhancing humor can be particularly beneficial in reducing stress. In one study, individuals who scored high in humor experienced less stress , responded with optimistic emotions, and had a more positive self-concept.

**Suggestion: We propose that affiliative and self-enhancing humor can reduce stress in organizations.

Organizational Outcomes(4)Creativity(a)

Humor promotes openness to new ideas by relaxing people and making them less likely to criticize mistakes or new ideas.

This leads to risk taking, which is the basis of creative thinking.

In fact, research indicates that exposure to humor has a positive effect on creative problem solving.

Example: The finding is supported by anecdotal evidence from organizations (Newstrom2002), some of which spend significant time and effort to create a playful and creative work environment (e.g., Google, Pixar Animation Studies, and Yahoo).

Creativity(b)

Affiliative humor can be used to develop an open work

environment in which ideas can be freely expressed

and to communicate norms that support

creativity.

Self-enhancing humor can accomplish this same goal by making light of failures related to new ideas.

**Suggestion: We propose that self-enhancing and affiliative humor are the best choices to increase creativity.

Organizational Outcomes(5)Organizational Culture

Humor has been described as an important component

of organizational culture by creating a positive environment in which knowledge and ideas are shared freely and interpersonal relationships can flourish.

Example1:

Southwest Airlines is well known for its fun culture

and witty employees as well as its consistent profitability and growth (Quick 1992).

Southwest Airlines

Organizational Culture

Recent research indicates that self-enhancing and affiliative humor were used by factory workers to make routine tasks interesting and to solidify close relationships (Holmes & Marra 2002a).

**Suggestion : We propose that by utilizing self-enhancing and affiliative humor, individuals will be positively influenced to engage in team oriented behavior and behavior that enhances the organization.

Organizational Outcomes(6) Leadership

Humor can be used to enhance leadership by securing a person’s power in hierarchical relationships and reducing social distance between leaders and followers.

1. Securing Power: Humor is a tool to aid in establishing and maintaining hierarchical relations ,which can be valuable for leaders in numerous situations (e.g., military officers).

Using humor is a unique privilege in power relationships,

and it is applied to demonstrate the initiator’s power over others (Holmes & Marra 2002b). For example, teasing or mocking lower status employees is an effective method to gain behavioral compliance(Dwyer 1991).

Leadership**Aggressive humor best fits this organizational outcome because

it can assist leaders to solidify their position in the hierarchy by demonstrating power over subordinates .

2.Reducing Social Distance. Humor reduces social distance by identifying similarities between people such as intelligence, needs, values, etc.

The choice of affiliative humor is quite appropriate in reducing social distance because it causes followers to perceive the leader as being part of the group by focusing on shared humor.

Self-defeating humor also reduces social distance between leaders and followers. This type of humor is used by political leaders to make themselves appealing and temporarily reduce status differences.

Individual Differences(1)Ethnicity

Ethnic humor , especially in the organizational setting, has the potential to create negative affect and conflict.

The initiator must first consider the audience’s ethnic composition prior to selecting humor content and style.

For example, interpersonal conflict would likely result if a specific ethnic group is the subject of a joke and a member of that group is present.

**Suggestion : Managers who match the audience’s ethnicity based humor style preferences will realize positive

organizational outcomes.

Individual Differences(2)Gender

Research indicates that women share humor to build solidarity while men employ humor to impress and emphasize similarities.

These humor tendencies are consistent with affiliative and self-enhancing styles respectively.

Therefore, we suggest that when addressing women, men should utilize affiliative humor while women should use

self-enhancing humor when addressing men.

**Suggestion :Gender-based humor and sexual humor, when unwanted, can cause conflict and division within groups,so we recommend against the use of such humor in the workplace.

Possible Negative Effects of Humor

Humor is a “double-edged sword” (Malone1980), because it can be perceived as humorous by one person yet quite offensive to another person.

Consequently, humor can result in a negative and/or positive effect for the individuals involved in a humorous exchange.

A recent article reports that aggressive humor can be used in a dysfunctional competitive manner.

Unwelcome ethnic and sexist jokes, insults, humiliation, and malicious ridicule are all examples of negative humor.

Additionally, individuals who use too much humor can lose credibility ,which is also problematic.

Integrating Humor in Organizations(1)

Our purpose is not to turn managers into stand-up comedians; rather, we intend to help them understand how to use humor in organizations.

Affiliative and self-enhancing humor are the most commonly recommended styles.

Aggressive humor is discouraged because it has the potential to prevent positive outcomes and likely lead to negative ones.

The approach presented in this paper also considers the effect of individual differences such as gender and ethnicity.

Integrating Humor in Organizations(2)

The Organizational Humor Model (OHM) summarizes the relationships discussed earlier (see Figure 1):

1.The first step in the model is the selection of an organizational outcome to enhance.

2.Next, the initiator selects a humor style, either consciously or unconsciously, that will convey the intended message.

3.The last step in the model aids in understanding whether the intended outcome was realized based on the initiator and audience’s evaluation.

Integrating Humor in Organizations(3)

For example, if a leader utilizes affiliative humor to

become closer to the team and is successful, humor has facilitated achieving this organizational goal.

**This example is reflective of a match between humor style

of the initiator and audience, which is positive humor.

With some careful thought and preparation, anyone can be successful at using humor appropriately in organizational settings.

To realize the benefits of humor, organizations can apply the OHM to develop humor-training seminars for managers and team members.

Personal Sharing(1) Nick Vujicic-Life without limitsNick沒手沒腳、但也沒限制！【 Nick Vujicic 觸動全球人心的生命戰士】

Nick不單擁有一個快樂的人生，而且很富幽默感。他沒有腳，但他說，他有一隻『小雞腿』 little drumstick.

當你在人生的路上跌倒，以為無法再站起來的時候，看看這段真人經歷吧！你的想法一定不一樣啊！

Personal Sharing(2)

Personal Sharing(3)

＊ Life is too short.＊Grudges are a waste of perfect happiness.＊Laugh when you can.＊Apologize when you should and let go of what you can.＊Take chances! Give everything and have no regrets.＊Life is too short to be unhappy.＊You have to take the good with the bad,.＊Smile when you are sad.

Personal Sharing(4)

＊Love what you got and always remember what you had.

＊Always forgive but never forget.＊Learn from your mistakes but never

regret.＊People change and things go wrong,

but always remember “Life goes on.”