Workplace Humor Not So Funny at Times

Newswise — Humor in the workplace can be a two-edged sword. At best, it can relieve stress, strengthen morale, build camaraderie and, in general, be a positive influence.

But like too much of a good thing, humor, or at least what passes for humor, can be a negative influence by making others feel foolish and resentful about co-workers and even supervisors. Negative humor allows in-groups to exclude others and can create an environment where humor spills over into harassment and hostility.

Where is the line drawn between negative and positive humor? Christopher LeGrow, an associate professor of psychology at Marshall University, wanted to find out and studied the content, tone, frequency and offensiveness of humor used to make fun of co-workers by 170 service industry workers.

He will be presenting his research at the annual conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology in Dallas May 5-7.

LeGrow found that jokes aimed at co-workers about weight, age, sexual orientation, race and religion are some of the most commonly used in the workplace. More than 70 percent of the workers said they had witnessed or heard jokes targeted at a co-worker's weight or age. And more than 40 percent of the workers admitted they had make fun of co-workers' age or weight.

"That's a troublesome result," said LeGrow, "because these topics are generally regarded as off-limits areas and some are protected by law and company policies. Yet there seems to be high incidence of jokes directed at other employees focusing on these topics."

He also found that when it comes to workplace humor, just about any subject is fair game. The top 25 most frequently witnessed or used topics directed at co-workers included physical characteristics (buttocks, cleavage, weight, hair, clothing), personality traits (intelligence, arrogance, clumsiness), social characteristics (alcohol use, dating, marital status), and personal hygiene (body odor, bodily functions, bad breath).

Also, work-related characteristics, including attendance, work pace, relationship with the boss and asking dumb questions, are often the subject of cutting remarks.

"Jokes about politics seem to be fair game, as well," said LeGrow. Most respondents did not consider political jokes to be offensive. "Their average age was 25 and that may have a bearing on their attitudes toward politics. They have grown up in a time where politics are frequently the butt of comedian's jokes," he said.

Despite the wide range of topics that are considered suitable fodder for office jokesters, respondents agreed they did not find much humor in death, disabilities, sexual harassment and race.

The least offensive humor topics included gun ownership, sports teams, tastes in music, television and movies and reading interests. "Not too many of our respondents reported getting over those kinds of jokes," said LeGrow.

However, he noted that humor is subject to regional differences. "What may be funny in one part of the country, may not be in another. For example, gun ownership may be a more sensitive issue in larger cities than it is in rural areas, where owning a gun is for more recreational purposes."

The study also found that for most subjects there was little difference between what men and women considered offensive. However, women were particularly offended by humor directed at their physical features (buttocks, weight, birthmarks/scars and cleavage) and characteristics such as marriage, pregnancy and wigs or hairpieces.

Jokes or remarks intended to be humorous are not often received that way, noted LeGrow. When workers are offended or feel threatened by humor, it then becomes a detriment to the office. And that should be a signal to an organization to step in to take the sharp edge off humor before the work environment becomes too uncomfortable or hostile for employees.

Above all, workplace humor should be kept appropriate. "If you have some doubt, don't use it. Also, if you don't direct jokes at people, but concentrate on circumstances, your humor will be appreciated more," he said.

"Workers recognize that humor can make an office a more pleasant place to work and while acknowledging that humor sometimes can be negative, they still want a workplace atmosphere where people can joke and have a good time," LeGrow said.

The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) is an international group of more than 6,000 industrial-organizational psychologists whose members study and apply scientific principles concerning people in the workplace. For more information about SIOP, including Media Resources, which lists nearly 2,000 experts in more than 100 topic areas, visit http://www.siop.org