Putting humour to work: To make sense of and constitute organizations

Abstract

How do people use humour to make sense of and constitute organizations? To understand this, I consider humour as a dynamic discursive practice, through which people (re)produce, complicate and potentially transform relations of power in the workplace. To extend the reach of humour research to this end, I have reviewed and synthesized the literature on humour to identify five contextual resources for agentic sensemaking in the use of humour through which discourses are destabilized and critiqued. I then consider six discursive practices, exercised through humour, that generate power and help constitute organizations. To complete my conceptual framework, I identify and discuss five potential avenues for future research on humour and power at work. I aim to inspire researchers to associate, use and analyse the processes in my framework to generate critically orientated evidence of how people use humour to substantiate organizational/workplace realities. I conclude that humour offers rich potential to better understand how people subjectively constitute organizations in practice.

Is leader humor a discursive resource for predicting innovative behavior? Examining the role of pro-social motivation and personal need for structure in hospitality industry

“…Some individuals may not be comfortable with status leveling by using humor because it diffuses the lines of hierarchical structures (Bogler and Somech, 2019). The question, in point, is whether those followers who have a high desire for PNS will experience humor positively or negatively (Huber, 2022). Individuals with a high PNS have an intense longing for certainty, have pre-determined ideas about proper work structure and expect the work to fit their schemas (Pundt and Venz, 2017).…”

Ridiculing the artificial boss: organisational technocultures and the humorous criticism of AI at work

“…Humorous practices of employees do not necessarily have to be expressed in ridicule or rejection, but can also be an expression of acceptance and approval. Several studies have found a positive influence of humour on the development of group goals, the effective management of emotions and productivity, or effectiveness in general (for an overview, see Huber, 2022). This research builds on sociological and psychological theory that conceives of humour as a universal mode of human interaction and a sine qua non of social integration.…”

Engineering Emotion Sustainably: Affective Gendered Organizing of Engineering Identities and Third Space

“…I'll be like, 'Oh yeah I guess I am' (laugh)". Her laughter seemed to indicate discomfort and her felt need to diffuse, through emotional work, a contradictory and incongruous power-laden situation [43]. Stacy also felt discomfort at her isolation: "you notice it .…”

“…Sends a subtle but hostile message." Shelly's whispered remarks and laughter drew out the boundaries of and tensions in (il)legitimized memberships in engineering [27,43]. Every woman described discursive and embodied experiences that reinforced women-do-not-belong-in-engineering, that "actively or passively made them feel out of place, doubt their abilities and be alienated" [44] (p. 7).…”

“…(laugh) I'm part of the group too!'" Her laughter signaled contradictory feelings about being upset and about her need to resist exclusion and men's presumed authority to determine membership along with her feelings that she had to do so without seeming hostile [43]. Rose was exasperated at being ignored: "You get that every day, you know?…”