Marc Hye-Knudsen - 1st year PhD presentation

Supervisors: Christian Waldstrøm & Dan Mønster
Discussants: Ann-Kristina Løkke Møller & Panagiotis Mitkidis

Abstract
What functions does humor serve in the workplace? Since the 1950s, a qualitative research tradition has examined this question. This work has focused on rich, contextual descriptions to capture the complexity of how employees use humor in various organizational settings, but it has left open the task of identifying generalizable patterns across settings. Meanwhile, quantitative research has linked humor to individual and organizational outcomes but has relied on models detached from real-world observation, ignoring the multifaceted functions that qualitative work has documented. My research bridges these traditions, importing qualitative insights into a quantitative framework where they can be operationalized and empirically tested.

This presentation will focus on my first paper, a quantitative systematic review of all qualitative observational studies that have been published up until now on humor in the workplace. Across 108 papers covering 134 distinct organisations, I identify six positive functions of humor that recur across all different kinds of workplaces, from factory floors to hospitals, call centers to academic departments. Moreover, I analyze 944 distinct humor episodes from across these papers, showing that the six functions of humor are reflected in the recurrent themes that people joke about. Finally, I propose six negative counterparts to the six positive humor functions identified in the literature.

This first paper will be the basis for future work. My second paper will consist in developing a quantitative scale to measure the use of humor for all the different functions identified in my review of the qualitative literature. I will use this scale to test the effects of humor in the workplace both for individuals and at the level of work teams. My third paper will be a quantitative longitudinal network analysis, examining the effects of the different functions of humor across time in one organization with approximately 200 employees. This research represents a step toward capturing the full complexity of humor in organizations - its patterns, purposes, and consequences.

Everyone is welcome!