Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 23, 2025
Setting Up a Stroke Team Algorithm and Conducting Simulation-based Training in the Emergency Department - A Practical Guide
Published on: January 15, 2017
Comparison of Sense of Humor and Burnout in Surgeons and Internal Medicine Physicians
Maya Paran1, Arie Sover1, Mickey Dudkiewicz1
1From the Division of General Surgery and Trauma, Hospital Administration, and the Internal Medicine Department, Hillel Yaffe Medical Center, Hadera, Israel, The Open University of Israel, Ra'anana, Bnei Zion Hospital, Haifa, Israel, Shamir Medical Center, Zriffin, Israel, the Internal Medicine Division, Meir Medical Center, Kfar Saba, Israel, and Shaarei Zedek Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel.
Objectives:
We aimed to evaluate humor styles in surgeons and internists and investigate the association between humor and burnout.
Methods:
A cross-sectional survey of physicians in surgical and medicine departments was conducted, assessing sense of humor and burnout using the Humor Styles Questionnaire and the Emotional Exhaustion subscale of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey for Medical Personnel.
Results:
For 131 surgeons and 72 internists, no differences in humor styles were found. A sense of personal accomplishment was more common among surgeons (P = 0.03) and rates of burnout were lower for surgeons (P = 0.02). Physicians with a higher-than-average score in affiliative and self-enhancing humor were less likely to suffer from burnout (P < 0.0001 and P = 0.03, respectively).
Conclusions:
Surgeons and internists have similar styles of humor. Surgeons suffer less from burnout. Affiliative and self-enhancing humor styles are associated with reduced burnout.
Related Concept Videos
01:08Obedience
01:21Barriers to Effective Communication II
Cultural barriers:
Differences in values, beliefs, religion, knowledge, and tradition can significantly impact communication. Awareness of nonverbal cues is critical, especially when conversing with a patient from a different culture. What appears appropriate in one culture may be inappropriate in another.
Semantic barriers:
As a result of their tendency to use...
01:08The Availability Heuristic
01:20Comparing the Survival Analysis of Two or More Groups
01:30Psychosurgery
Historical Development of Psychosurgery
In the 1930s, Portuguese neurologist Antonio Egas Moniz introduced a surgical procedure designed...
01:23Stress Prevention and Stress Management Techniques II
Type A Personality: Driven and Easily Stressed
Individuals with Type A personalities are often highly competitive and ambitious and operate with a strong sense of urgency. Commonly labeled as...