Executive Overview Humor is a common element of human interaction and therefore has an impact on work groups and organizations. Despite this observation, managers often fail to take humor seriously or realize its numerous benefits. Humor is more than just funny concepts; it represents a multifunctional 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. Specifically, we suggest humor styles that are best suited to realize these outcomes. Additionally, the effect of humor on organizational outcomes is moderated by individual differences such as ethnicity and gender. Much like selecting the proper tool from a toolkit, managers can select the appropriate humor style suitable for the desired organizational outcome, adjust for individual differences, and achieve positive organizational outcomes.

The Use of Humor in the Workplace

Purpose – The benefits of humor for general well‐being have long been touted. Past empirical research has suggested that some of these benefits also exist in the work domain. However, there is little shared understanding as to the role of humor in the workplace. The purpose of this paper is to address two main gaps in the humor literature. First, the authors summarize several challenges researchers face in defining and operationalizing humor, and offer an integrative conceptualization which may be used to consolidate and interpret seemingly disparate research streams. Second, meta‐analysis is used to explore the possibility that positive humor is associated with: employee health (e.g. burnout, health) and work‐related outcomes (e.g. performance, job satisfaction, withdrawal); with perceived supervisor/leader effectiveness (e.g. perceived leader performance, follower approval); and may mitigate the deleterious effects of workplace stress on employee burnout.Design/methodology/approach – The authors examine...

A meta‐analysis of positive humor in the workplace

La relation entre les caracteristiques du travail, le bien-etre des etudiants et la performance a eteevaluee a partir du modele de Karasck & Theorell ≪Travail, exigences, controle, soutien≫ (1990). Un echantillon d’etudiants portugais (N= 825) a repondu a un questionnaire comprenant des mesures du controle et des exigences du travail universitaire, du soutien des pairs, de la satisfaction relative a la vie universitaire, de l’anxiete/depression et des resultats aux examens. Il apparut, comme dans d’aures contextes de travail, que la satisfaction des etudiants pour ce qui est de la vie universitaire, ainsi que les niveaux d’anxiete/depression etaient fortement dependants de leur perception des caracteristiques du travail. Les niveaux de satisfaction ont un effet direct sur la performance et agissent sur la relation entre la maitrise du travail universitaire et la performance.

The relationship between work characteristics, student well-being and performance was assessed, based upon Karasek and Theorell's (1990) Job Demands–Control–Support model. A sample of Portuguese university students (N= 825) answered a questionnaire comprising measures of academic work demands and control, peer support, satisfaction with academic life, anxiety/depression and academic performance. Results suggested that, similar to other work contexts, student satisfaction with academic life and anxiety/depression levels are strongly dependent on their perceptions of work characteristics. Levels of satisfaction have a direct impact on student performance and mediate the relationship between academic work control and performance.

Stress in Academic Life: Work Characteristics as Predictors of Student Well‐being and Performance

This article considers how humor may fit within a resiliency perspective. Following a brief overview of resiliency approaches, including selected work on positive psychology, several lines of research that provide initial support for resiliency effects of humor on stress and trauma are highlighted. This work ranges from anecdotal case report descriptions of facilitative humor use in extremely traumatic situations (e.g., paramedics), to more rigorous studies examining moderator and cognitive appraisal effects of humor on psychological well-being. Although these initial findings are quite promising, it is noted that some resiliency-based approaches to humor are limited by a sole focus on humor as a positive attribute. As such, a humor styles model, which acknowledges both the adaptive and maladaptive aspects of humor, is used to describe broader avenues of research within a resiliency perspective. This process orientation to humor use also highlights the importance of both negative and positive emotion regulation in modulating coping and growth. This model is then used to comment on limitations and potential extensions of current resiliency perspectives on humor, including programs and exercises that attempt to train humor use in a facilitative manner.

https://www.psycharchives.org/bitstream/20.500.12034/1145/1/ejop.v8i3.464.pdf

Humor and Resiliency: Towards a Process Model of Coping and Growth

ObjectiveThe aim of this review is to identiiy, critically evalu- ate, and summarize the laughter literature across a number of fields related to medicine and health care to assess to what extent laughter health-related benefits are currently supported by empirical evidence. Data Sources and Study SelectionA comprehensive laughter literature search was performed. A thorough search of the gray literature was also undertaken. A list of inclusion and exclusion criteria was identified. Data ExtractionIt was necessary to distinguish between humor and laughter to assess health-related outcomes elicited hy laughter only. Data SynthesisThematic analysis was applied to summa- rize laugliter health-related outcomes, relationships, and general robustness. Conclusions: Laughter has shown physiological, psychological. social, spiritual, and quality-of-life benefits. Adverse effects are very limited, and laughter is practically lacking in contraindica- tions. Therapeutic efficacy of laughter is mainly derived fi-om spontaneous laughter (triggered by external stimuli or positive emotions) and self-induced laughter (triggered by oneself at will), both occurring with or without humor. The brain is not able to distinguish between these types; therefore, it is assumed that similar benefits may be achieved with one or the other. Although there is not enough data to demonstrate that laughter is an ail- around healing agent, this review concludes that there exists suf- ficient evidence to suggest that laughter has some positive, quan- tifiable effects on certain aspects of health. In this era of evidence- based medicine, it would be appropriate for laughter to be used as a complementary/ alternative medicine in the prevention and treatment of iQnesses, although further well-designed research is

/pdf/the-therapeutic-value-of-laughter-in-medicine-3csh3mjogt.pdf

The therapeutic value of laughter in medicine.

Abstract This study explored relationships between sense of humor, stress, and coping strategies. Undergraduate students (N=258) from introductory psychology courses completed a perceived stress scale, an everyday problems scale, a state anxiety inventory, a sense of humor scale, and a scale assessing their preferred coping strategies. High and low sense of humor groups were determined by selecting participants with self-reported sense of humor at one standard deviation above and below the overall mean on the sense of humor scale. The high sense of humor group appraised less stress and reported less current anxiety than a low sense of humor group despite experiencing a similar number of everyday problems in the previous two months. The high humor group was more likely to use positive reappraisal and problem-solving coping strategies than the low humor group. A weaker relationship existed between appraisal of stress and number of problems in the low humor group because this group perceived greater stress at low and average number of everyday problems than the high humor group. The results were discussed as supporting the role of humor in restructuring a situation so it is less stressful, and the relationship of humor to both emotion-focused and problem-focused coping strategies.

Millicent H. Abel

Papers

Humor, stress, and coping strategies

Mediation and moderation in ratings of hostile jokes by men and women