Humor and group effectiveness

Human Relations

Volumn 61, Issue 3, 2008, Pages 395-417

  Romero, Eric ^a   Pescosolido, Anthony ^b  

^a CENTRUM CATÓLICA GRADUATE BUSINESS SCHOOL   (Peru)

^b UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE   (United States)

Author keywords

Groups; Human resources industrial relations; Humor; Job employee attitudes; Management

Indexed keywords

EID: 40849113203     PISSN: 00187267     EISSN: 1741282X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0018726708088999     Document Type: Article

References (108)

1. Adelsward, V. & Oberg, B.M. The function of laughter and joking in negotiating activities. Humor, 1998, 11, 411-29.
2. Argyris, C. & Schon, D.A. Organizational learning II: Theory, method and practice. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1996.
3. Avolio, B. J., Howell, J.M. & Sosik, J.J. A funny thing happened on the way to the bottom line: Humor as a moderator of leadership style effects. Academy of Management Journal, 1999, 42, 219-27.
4. Barbour, G. Want to be a successful manager? Now that's a laughing matter. Public Management, 1998, 80, 4-6.
5. Barsade, S. G. The ripple effect: Emotional contagion and its influence on group behavior. Administrative Science Quarterly, 2002, 47, 644-75.
6. Barsky, A., Thoresen, C., Warren, C. & Kaplan, S. Modeling negative affectivity and job stress: A contingency-based approach. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 2004, 25, 913-26.
7. Bugen, L. A. Composition and orientation effects on group cohesion. Psychological Reports, 1977, 40, 175-81.
8. Cann, A., Galhoun, L.G. & Banks, J.S. On the role of humor appreciation in interpersonal attraction: It's no joking matter. Humor, 1997, 10, 77-89.
9. Cann, A., Holt, K. & Calhoun, L.G. The roles of humor and sense of humor in responses to stressors. Humor, 1999, 12, 177-93.
10. Castelli, J. Are you weird enough? HR Magazine, 1990, September, pp. 38-41.
11. Caudron, S. Humor is healthy in the workplace. Personnel Journal, 1990, 71, 63-8.
12. Cohen, S. G. & Ledford, F.E. The effectiveness of self-managing teams: A quasi-experiment. Human Relations, 1994, 47, 13-43.
13. Collinson, D. L. Engineering humour: Masculinity, joking and conflict in shop-floor relations. Organization Studies, 1988, 9, 181-99.
14. Coser, R. L. Some social functions of laughter: A study of humor in a hospital setting. Human Relations, 1959, 12, 171-82.
15. Coser, R. L. Laughter among colleagues. Psychiatry, 1960, 23, 81-99.
16. Crawford, C. B. Theory and implications regarding the utilization of strategic humor by leaders. The Journal of Leadership Studies, 1994, 1, 53-68.
17. Davies, C. Ethnic jokes, moral values and social boundaries. The British Journal of Sociology, 1982, 33, 383-403.
18. Decker, W. H. & Rotondo, D.M. Relationships among gender, type of humor, and perceived leader effectiveness. Journal of Managerial Issues, 2001, 13, 450-66.
19. De Souza, G. & Klein, H.J. Emergent leadership in the group goal-setting process. Small Group Research, 1995, 26, 475-96.
20. Dewitte, S. & Verguts, T. Being funny: A selectionist account of humor production. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 2001, 14, 37-53.
21. Dienstbier, R. A. The impact of humor on energy, tension, task choices, and attributions: Exploring hypothesis from toughness theory. Motivation and Emotion, 1995, 19, 255-67.
22. Dixon, N.F. A cognitive alternative to stress? In I.G. Sarason & C.D. Speilberger (Eds), Stress and anxiety, Vol. 5. Washington, DC: Hemisphere, 1980, pp. 281-9.
23. Dixon, P. N., Wingham, W., Strano, D.A. & Chandler, C. K. Sense of humor as a mediator during incidental learning of humor-related material. Psychological Reports, 1989, 64, 851-5.
24. Druskat, V. U. & Pescosolido, A.T. The content of effective teamwork mental models in self-managing teams: Ownership, learning, and heedful interrelating. Human Relations, 2002, 55, 283-314.
25. Druskat, V.U. & Pescosolido, A.T. The impact of emergent leader emotionally competent behavior on team trust, communication, engagement, and effectiveness. In N. Ashkanasy, C. Hartel & W. Zerbe (Eds), Research on emotion in organizations, volume 2: Individual and organizational perspectives on emotion management and display. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2006, pp. 25-56.
26. Druskat, V. U. & Wolff, S.B. Building the emotional intelligence of groups. Harvard Business Review, 2001, 79, 81-90.
27. Duncan, W. J. Humor in management: Prospects for administrative practice and research. Academy of Management Review, 1982, 7, 136-42.
28. Edmondson, A. Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1999, 44, 350-83.
29. Edmondson, A. Psychological safety, trust, and learning in organizations: A group-level lens. In R.M. Kramer & K.S. Cook (Eds), Trust and distrust in organizations. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2004, pp. 239-72.
30. Forgas, J. P. On feeling good and getting your way: Mood effects on negotiator cognition and bargaining strategy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1998, 74, 565-77.
31. Francis, L. E. Laughter, the best mediation: Humor as emotion management in interaction. Symbolic Interaction, 1994, 17, 147-63.
32. Freud, S. Humor. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 1928, 9, 1-6.
33. George, J. Leader positive mood and group performance: The case of customer service. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1991, 25, 778-94.
34. George, J. & Brief, A. Feeling good - doing good: A conceptual analysis of the mood at work-organizational spontaneity relationship. Psychological Bulletin, 1992, 112, 310-29.
35. Gibson, C. The efficacy advantage: Factors related to the formation of group efficacy. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 2003, 33, 2153-86.
36. Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R. & McKee, A. Primal leadership: The hidden driver of great performance. Harvard Business Review, 2001, 79, 42-51.
37. Graham, E. E. The involvement of sense of humor in the development of social relationships. Communication Reports, 1995, 8, 158-70.
38. Greatbatch, D. & Clark, T. Laughing with the gurus. Business Strategy Review, 2002, 13, 10-18.
39. Gruner, C. Wit and humor in mass communication. In A.J. Chapman & H.C. Foot (Eds), Humour and laughter: Theory, research and applications. London: Wiley, 1976, pp. 287-311.
40. Hackman, J.R. The psychology of self-management in organizations. In M.S. Pallack & R.O. Perloff (Eds), Psychology and work: Productivity, change, and employment. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 1986, pp. 89-136.
41. Hampes, W. P. The relationship between humor and trust. Humor, 1999, 12, 253-9.
42. Hampes, W. P. Relation between humor and empathic concern. Psychological Reports, 2001, 88, 241-4.
43. Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, J.T. & Rapson, R.L. Emotional contagion. Paris: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
44. Herzberg, F., Mausner, B. & Snyderman, B. The motivation to work. New York: Wiley, 1959.
45. Holmes, J. & Marra, M. Having a laugh at work: How humor contributes to workplace culture. Journal of Pragmatics, 2002, 34, 1683-710.
46. Hudson, K.M. Transforming a conservative company - One laugh at a time. Harvard Business Review, 2001, July/August, pp. 45-53.
47. Isen, A. & Levin, P. The effect of feeling good on helping: Cookies and kindness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1972, 21, 384-8.
48. Janes, L. M. & Olson, J.M. Jeer pressure: The behavioral effects of observing ridicule in others. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2000, 26, 474-85.
49. Jehn, K. & Shah, P.P. Interpersonal relationships and task performance: An examination of mediating processes in friendship and acquaintance groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1997, 72, 775-90.
50. Jordan, P. J. & Troth, A.C. Managing emotions during team problem solving: Emotional intelligence and conflict resolution. Human Performance, 2004, 17, 195-218.
51. Kahn, W. Toward a sense of organizational humor: Implications for organizational diagnosis and change. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 1989, 25, 45-63.
52. Kahn, W. Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work. Academy of Management Journal, 1990, 33, 692-724.
53. Kaldenberg, D., Becker, B. & Zvonkovic, A. Work and commitment among young professionals: A study of male and female dentists. Human Relations, 1995, 48, 1355-77.
54. Kayes, D. C. The 1996 Mount Everest climbing disaster: The breakdown of learning in teams. Human Relations, 2004, 57, 1263-84.
55. Kelly, J. R. & Barsade, S.G. Moods and emotions in small groups and work teams. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2001, 86, 99-130.
56. King, K. N. But I'm not a funny person... The use of humor in dispute resolution. Negotiation Journal, 1988, 4, 119-23.
57. Kupier, N. A., Martin, R.A. & Dance, K.A. Sense of humor and enhanced quality of life. Personal individual Differences, 1992, 13, 1273-83.
58. Kupier, N. A., McKenzie, S.D. & Belanger, K.A. Cognitive appraisals and individual differences in sense of humor: Motivational and affective implications. Personality and Individual Differences, 1995, 19, 359-72.
59. LaFave, L., Haddad, J. & Maeson, W.A. Superiority, enhanced self-esteem and perceived incongruity humor theory. In A.J. Chapman & H.C. Foot (Eds), Humor and laughter: Theory, research and applications. New York: Wiley, 1976, pp. 63-91.
60. Lawler, E.E. III Strategies for high performance organizations. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass, 1998.
61. Levine, M. Ready or not, here life comes. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005.
62. Lyman, P. The fraternal bond as a joking relationship: A case study of the role of sexist jokes in male group bonding. In M.S. Kimmel (Eds), Changing men: New directions in research on men and masculinity. Part three. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE, 1987, pp. 148-63.
63. Lyttle, J. The effectiveness of humor in persuasion: The case of business ethics training. Journal of General Psychology, 2001, 128, 206-17.
64. Maertz, C. & Campion, M. Profiles in quitting: Integrating process and content turnover theory. Academy of Management Journal, 2004, 47, 566-72.
65. Malone, P. B. Humor: A double-edged tool for today's managers ? Academy of Management Review, 1980, 5, 357-60.
66. Manz, C. C. & Sims, H.P., Jr. Leading workers to lead themselves: The external leadership of self-managing work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1987, 32, 106-28.
67. Martin, R. A. & Lefcourt, H.M. Sense of humor as a moderator of the relation between stressors and moods. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1983, 45, 1313-24.
68. Martineau, W.H. A model of the social functions of humor. In J. Goldstein & P. McGhee (Eds), The psychology of humor. New York: Academic Press, 1972, pp. 101-25.
69. Meyer, J. C. Ronald Reagan and humor: A politician's velvet weapon. Communication Studies, 1990, 41, 76-88.
70. Meyer, J. C. Humor in member narratives: Uniting and dividing at work. Western Journal of Communication, 1997, 61, 359-72.
71. Meyer, J. C. Humor as a double-edged sword: Four functions of humor in communication. Communication Theory, 2000, 10, 310-31.
72. Moreland, R.L. & Argote, L. Transactive memory in dynamic organizations. In R.S. Peterson & E.A. Mannix (Eds), Leading and managing people in the dynamic organization. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2003, pp. 135-62.
73. Morreall, J. Humor and work. Humor, 1991, 4, 359-73.
74. Mudrack, P. Defining group cohesiveness. Small Group Behavior, 1989, 20, 37-49.
75. Newstrom, J. W. Making work fun: An important role for managers. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 2002, 67, 4-8, 21.
76. Nezlek, J. B. & Derks, P. Use of humor as a coping mechanism, psychological adjustment, and social interaction. Humor, 2001, 14, 395-413.
77. O'Quin, K. & Derks, P. Humor and creativity: A review of the empirical literature. In M.A. Runco (Ed.), The creativity research handbook. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 1997, pp. 227-56.
78. Pescosolido, A. T. Emergent leaders as managers of group emotion. The Leadership Quarterly, 2002, 13, 583-99.
79. Piper, W., Marrache, M., Lacroix, R., Richardsen, A. & Jones, B. Cohesion as a basic bond in groups. Human Relations, 1983, 36, 93-108.
80. Priest, R. & Swain, J. Humor and its implications for leadership effectiveness. Humor, 2002, 15, 169-89.
81. Robinson, D. T. & Smith-Lovin, L. Getting a laugh: Gender, status, and humor in task discussions. Social Forces, 2001, 80, 123-58.
82. Romero, E.J. The effect of humor on work effort and mental state. International Journal of Work Organization and Emotion, 2005, 1, 137-49.
83. Romero, E.J., Alsua, C., Hinrichs, K. & Pearson, T. Regional humor differences in the United States: Implications for management. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 2007, 20, 189-201.
84. Romero, E. J. & Cruthirds, K. The use of humor in the workplace. Academy of Management Perspectives, 2006, 20, 58-69.
85. Saavedra, R. & Early, P.C. Choice of task and goal under specific conditions of general and specific affective inducement. Motivation and Emotion, 1991, 15, 45-65.
86. Seligman, M. & Schulman, P. Explanatory style as a predictor of productivity and quitting among life insurance sales agents. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1986, 50, 832-8.
87. Shurcliff, A. Judged humor, arousal, and relief theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1968, 8, 360-3.
88. Smith, C. M. & Powell, L. The use of disparaging humor by group leaders. The Southern Speech Communication Journal, 1988, 53, 279-92.
89. Smith, R. E., Ascough, J.C., Ettinger, R.F. & Nelson, D.A. Humor, anxiety, and task performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1971, 19, 243-6.
90. Smith, W. J., Harrington, K.V. & Neck, C.P. Resolving conflict with humor in a diversity context. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 2000, 15, 606-21.
91. Staw, B. Attribution of the 'causes' of performance: A general alternative interpretation of cross-sectional research on organizations. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 1975, 13, 414-32.
92. Strozniak, P. Teams at work. Industry Week, 2000, 249, 47-50.
93. Sullivan, M. & Conway, M. Negative affect leads to lower cognition: Attributional processing for observed social behavior. Social Cognition, 1989, 7, 315-37.
94. Suls, J.M. Two-stage model for the appreciation of jokes and cartoons: Information-processing analysis. In J.H. Goldstein & P.E. McGhee (Eds), The psychology of humor. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 1972, pp. 81-100.
95. Sundstrom, E., DeMeuse, K.P. & Futrell, D. Work teams: Applications and effectiveness. American Psychologist, 1990, 45, 120-33.
96. Thomas, K. W. & Schmidt, W.H. A survey of managerial interests with respect to conflict. Academy of Management Journal, 1976, 19, 315-18.
97. Tjosvold, D., Yu, Z.Y. & Hui, C. Team learning from mistakes: The contribution of cooperative goals and problem-solving. Journal of Management Studies, 2004, 41, 1223-45.
98. Tracy, S., Myers, K. & Scott, C. Cracking jokes and crafting selves: Sensemaking and identity management among human service workers. Communication Monographs, 2006, 73, 283-308.
99. Vinton, K. L. Humor in the workplace: It is more than telling jokes. Small Group Behavior, 1989, 20, 151-66.
100. Wasielewski, P. The emotional basis of charisma. Symbolic Interaction, 1985, 8, 207-22.
101. Weick, K. & Westley, F. Organizational learning: Affirming an oxymoron. In S. Clegg, C. Hardy & W. Nord (Eds), Handbook of organizational studies. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 1996, pp. 440-58.
102. Weldon, E. & Jehn, K. Processes that mediate between a group goal and improved group performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1991, 61, 555-71.
103. Wolff, S.B., Druskat, V.U., Stubbs Koman, E. & Messer, T. The link between group emotional competence and group effectiveness. In V. Druskat, F. Sala & G. Mount (Eds), Linking emotional intelligence and performance at work. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2006, pp. 223-42.
104. Wolff, S. B., Pescosolido, A.T. & Druskat, V.U. Emotional intelligence as the basis of leadership emergence in self-managing teams. The Leadership Quarterly, 2002, 13, 505-22.
105. Yovetich, N.A., Dale, A. & Hudak, M.A. Benefits of humor in reduction of threat-induced anxiety. Psychological Reports, 1990, 66, 51-8.
106. Yukl, G. An evaluative essay on current conceptions of effective leadership. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 1999, 8, 33-48.
107. Zeytinoglu, I., Lillevik, W., Seaton, M. & Moruz, J. Part-time and casual work in retail trade - Stress and other factors affecting the workplace. Industrial Relations, 2004, 59, 516-44.
108. Ziv, A. Personality and sense of humor. New York: Springer, 1984.