Jessica Mesmer-Magnus, Rebecca Guidice, Martha Andrews and Robert Oechslin
The purpose of this paper is to examine how employees’ perceptions of their supervisor’s use of four types of humour relate to employee job satisfaction, organisational pride…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how employees’ perceptions of their supervisor’s use of four types of humour relate to employee job satisfaction, organisational pride, organisational commitment and self-esteem. Supervisor favourability is also examined as a mediating variable in these relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey of 216 working individuals provided data on the effect of supervisor use of humour on employee attitudes.
Findings
Perceptions of positive forms of humour (affiliative and self-enhancing) positively related to employee various attitudes, while aggressive humour was negatively associated with those attitudes. Results also support the intervening role of supervisor favourability in the relationship between supervisors’ positive use of humour and employees’ job satisfaction, affective commitment and organisational pride.
Research limitations/implications
Studies of the effects of workplace humour can benefit from using more fine-grained operationalisation of positive and negative humour. Research can also benefit from considerations of intervening mechanisms to the humour–work outcome relationship.
Practical implications
The results underscore the benefits of affiliative and self-enhancing humour on employee attitudes in the workplace. While negative humour can have an undesirable effect, there may be circumstances under which self-defeating humour is not negatively received.
Originality/value
This paper fulfils an identified need to better understand supervisors’ use of different, more discriminating forms of humour on employee attitudes.
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Timothy R. Moake and Christopher Robert
Humor can be a useful tool in the workplace, but it remains unclear whether humor used by men versus women is perceived similarly due to social role expectations. This paper…
Abstract
Purpose
Humor can be a useful tool in the workplace, but it remains unclear whether humor used by men versus women is perceived similarly due to social role expectations. This paper explored whether female humorists have less social latitude in their use of aggressive and affiliative humor in the workplace. This paper also examined how formal organizational status and the target's gender can impact audience perceptions.
Design/methodology/approach
Two scenario-based studies were conducted where participants rated the foolishness of the humorist. For Study 1, participants responded to a scenario with an aggressive, humorous comment. For Study 2, participants responded to a scenario with an affiliative, humorous comment.
Findings
Results suggested that high-status female humorists who used aggressive humor with low-status women were viewed as less foolish than low-status female humorists who used aggressive humor with low-status women. Conversely, status did not impact perceptions of male humorists who used aggressive humor with low-status women. Results also indicated that high-status women who used affiliative humor were viewed as less foolish when their humor was directed toward low-status men versus low-status women. Conversely, no differences existed for high-status men who used affiliative humor with low-status men and women.
Practical implications
Narrower social role expectations for women suggest that interpersonal humor can be a riskier strategy for women.
Originality/value
This study suggests that women have less social latitude in their use of humor at work, and that organizational status and target gender influence perceptions of female humorists.
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Elizaveta Yu Logacheva and Maria S. Plakhotnik
The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of humor work climate on innovative work behavior of back-office employees in the banking industry in Russia.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of humor work climate on innovative work behavior of back-office employees in the banking industry in Russia.
Design/methodology/approach
Data was collected via an online survey that included scales to measure humor climate and innovative work behavior. The survey was distributed electronically among employees of one department of a bank. The sample included 104 back-office employees (response rate 60.4%). Correlation and regression analyses were used.
Findings
The results indicate that humor climate fosters employee innovative work behavior. Positive humor contributes to innovative work behavior more than remaining humor climate dimensions (i.e. negative humor, outgroup humor and supervisory support). Only position type (managers vs non-managers), and not gender, education and job tenure, was found to have a significant impact on employee perceptions of humor climate and innovative work behavior exhibition.
Originality/value
This study adds to the limited empirical evidence on the links between humor and innovative work behavior, especially at a group level. This study focused on humor climate as a multidimensional construct, whereas previous research mostly explored positive forms of humor in relation to different social aspects of the organization. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this study is first to use a validated scale to explore connections between innovative work behavior and humor climate.
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Qiandan Liao and Jenna Pandeli
Although humour and conflict are popular topics in management, little attention has been paid to the negative effects of humour in terms of how workplace humour could turn into…
Abstract
Purpose
Although humour and conflict are popular topics in management, little attention has been paid to the negative effects of humour in terms of how workplace humour could turn into unexpected conflicts. From the perspective of conflict management, human resources (HR) need to better understand this dynamic transition process. The purpose of this research is to explore the transition from humour to conflict and how HR perform when addressing humour-related issues.
Design/methodology/approach
A secondary data, multiple case study approach is adopted. Case studies are analysed qualitatively and thematically through a content analysis matrix.
Findings
Aggressive humour is closely related to conflict. Humour content and the context in which it takes place are important influential factors contributing to the transition from humour to conflict. It is challenging for HR to deal with humour-related issues: most victims are unwilling to report the issue at an early stage until they cannot bear the joke, forcing HR to perform reactively.
Practical implications
Workplace humour-related issues should not be overlooked. HR should adopt an early, proactive approach to prevent severe conflict from developing and relationships deteriorating.
Originality/value
This study highlights the dynamics and complexity of the transition from humour to conflict, providing new insights for HR in terms of effective conflict management.
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Maija Kontukoski, Harri Luomala, Bruno Mesz, Mariano Sigman, Marcos Trevisan, Minna Rotola-Pukkila and Anu Inkeri Hopia
This paper aims to extend current understanding concerning the cross-modal correspondences between sounds and tastes by introducing new research tools and experimental data to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to extend current understanding concerning the cross-modal correspondences between sounds and tastes by introducing new research tools and experimental data to study associations and their reflections between music and taste.
Design/methodology/approach
The experiment design addresses the multidisciplinary approach by using cultural, chemical and statistical analysis methods.
Findings
The paper provides further evidence that exposure to the “sweet” or “sour” musical pieces influences people’s food-related thinking processes and behaviors. It also demonstrates that sweet or sour elements in the music may reflect to actual sweetness (as measured by sugar content) and sourness (as measured by organic acid content) of foods developed in association with music carrying similar taste characteristics.
Research limitations/implications
The findings should be replicated and expanded using larger consumer samples and wider repertoires of “taste music” and dependent variables. Also, the level of experimental control should be improved; e.g., the “sweet” and “sour” music were produced using different instruments, which may have an influence to the results.
Practical implications
Ambient “taste music” that is congruent with the basic flavors of the dishes can be played in restaurants to highlight guests’ sensory experience.
Social implications
By carefully considering the symbolic meanings of the music used in different social situations, it is possible to create multimodal experiences and even subconscious expectations in people’ minds.
Originality/value
Cross-modal associations are made between the tastes and music. This can influence on perception of food and provide new ways to build multimodal gastronomic experiences.