Humor as an abrasive or a lubricant in social situations: Martineau revisited

Abstract

In Martineau's seminal chapter on the social functions of humor, he postulated some of the ways in which disparagement humor shapes social behavior. This research paper discusses three research studies that compared the effects of other-deprecating humor and self-deprecating humor on the observer and examines how they relate to Martineau's theory. In our research, we hypothesized that people who observe ridicule of others experience "jeer pressure." This inhibiting effect on behavior was expected to result in conformity to others' opinions, fear about failing or standing out, and conventional thinking. In the first two studies, participants observed videotapes containing self-ridiculing humor, other-deprecating humor, or non-ridiculing/no humor. Participants then completed tasks assessing conforming, fear of failure, and creativity. Results of both studies showed that participants who observed ridicule of others were more conforming and more afraid of failing than participants who observed self-deprecating humor or the control condition. Study 3 examined the effects of ridicule of others versus self-deprecating humor on creativity using a more sophisticated creativity measure, and less caustic humor. Results supported the hypothesis that observing self-deprecating humor would result in higher levels of creativity compared to the other-ridicule condition. Implications of these findings for Martineau's model are discussed.

Gender and humor in meetings: A moderation analysis.

“…Perceptions of positive and interactive humor during the last meeting were measured with a nine-item scale. The scale was developed based on the framework by Martin et al (2003) as well as on a review of various definitions of humor cited in the literature (Berger, 2013; Janes & Olson, 2015; Tavery, 2014). The measure has a Cronbach’s α = .94 for the sample used in the analyses presented here, suggesting adequate internal consistency reliability.…”

“…Negative meeting behaviors have shown to affect meeting outcomes as well (Lehmann-Willenbrock et al, 2016). Therefore, studying the impact of negative humor in this context could provide important additional insights: Janes and Olson (2015), for instance, focused on two negative dimensions of humor: self-ridiculing and others-deprecating humor. They showed that observing somebody else displaying self-ridiculing humor enhanced creativity, while other-deprecating humor had inhibiting effects on participants.…”

“…The interactive nature of affiliative humor makes it more attractive than self-enhancing humor which has a stronger “intrapsychic than interpersonal focus” (Martin et al, 2003, p. 54). The use of negative humor types (self-defeating and aggressive humor) may cause joy in some attendees but may also irritate or offend other attendees (Janes & Olson, 2015; Thomae & Pina, 2015). Thus, affiliative humor has the greatest potential for positive experiences in meetings.…”

Algorithms of comic texts construction

“…Комические высказывания при всем их разнообразии строятся по определенным канонам, в основе которых лежат несоответствия между интенциями и результатом, ожиданием и реальностью, содержанием и формой его выражения (Горностаева, 2016Дмитриев, 1996;Еленевская, 2014;Козинцев, 2007;Кулинич, 2004;Минский, 1988;Норман, 2003;Плотникова, 2003;Пропп, 1999;Attardo, 1994Attardo, , 2001Chiaro, 1992;Dynel, 2008;Giora, 1991;Janes, Olson, 2015;Kotthof, 2006;Kuiper, McHale, 2009;Kuiper, Leite, 2010;Raskin, 1985;Soussa, Bazenga, Antunes, 2009;Vandaele, 2002;Yus, 2018). Такие несоответствия вызывают удивление и улыбку.…”

Linking Leaders’ Humor Styles and Employees’ Organizational Creativity: Moderating Role of Organizational Tenure

“…For example, it may create some problems such as distracting employees from the job at hand, hurting employee's credibility, or causing offense in increasingly diverse work settings (Scheel & Gockel, 2017). The use of negative humor in the workplace can increase hostility by enabling prejudice against the intended person (Janes & Olson, 2015), cause employee alienation and the good employees leave the organization (Plester, 2009), may lead to discrimination in the workplace (Quinn, 2000) and may reduce manager's reputation result in non-compliance with executive decisions (Lyttle, 2007).…”