Risqué business? Interpersonal anxiety and humor in the #MeToo era

Area of Science:

• Organizational Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Gender Studies

Background:

• Interpersonal anxiety, the fear of negative social interactions, may be heightened in post-#MeToo workplaces, especially in mixed-gender encounters.
• This anxiety can negatively affect crucial organizational decisions like hiring.
• Humor is known to reduce intrapersonal stress, but its effect on interpersonal anxiety is less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of interpersonal anxiety on hiring decisions in same- and mixed-gender interactions.
• To examine the moderating roles of applicant/evaluator gender, humor, and gender salience.
• To test the hypothesis that humor can reduce interpersonal anxiety.

Main Methods:

• Three mixed-methods experiments involving hiring managers.
• Manipulation of applicant and evaluator gender (same- vs. mixed-gender dyads).
• Inclusion of positive applicant humor (a pun) and varying levels of gender salience in simulated job interviews.

Main Results:

• Mixed-gender interactions increased interpersonal anxiety, particularly when gender was more salient, and predicted negative downstream outcomes.
• Interpersonal anxiety mediated the relationship between mixed-gender interactions and hiring decisions.
• Humor reduced interpersonal anxiety for female applicants but exacerbated it for male applicants in gender-salient situations.

Conclusions:

• Interpersonal anxiety plays a significant role in mixed-gender hiring contexts, influenced by gender salience.
• Humor's effect on interpersonal anxiety is complex and gender-dependent.
• Findings integrate diversity and humor theories to explain anxiety in workplace interactions.