ABSTRACT
The sense of humor may build strength in employees and leaders in modern organizations, which face many challenges to remain competitive in the market. This chapter includes a comprehensive discussion on humor in the workplace at the individual and group level, promotion of humor within organizations, and future directions of organizational humor research. In accordance with theories on the personality of humor, individual employees’ benign humor traits may benefit their ability to manage stressors and foster healthier relationships, while darker styles may be associated with negative outcomes. Promoting humor in the workplace may also be effective regardless of employee and leadership personalities. Individuals who are encouraged to use humor have shown increased positive affect, greater regulation of positive emotion, and greater success at down-regulating negative emotions and up-regulating positive emotions in experimental settings. Limitations include that most studies have used the Humor Styles Questionnaire as the measurement of humorous personality styles, but the reliability and validity of the measure has been largely questioned. Overall, organizations that encourage a positive humorous approach may experience benefits in employee well-being.
