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Humor and morality in organizations.

Kai Chi Yam1, Yamon Min Ye1

  • 1National University of Singapore, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, 119077, Singapore.

Current Opinion in Psychology
|February 8, 2024
PubMed
Summary

Leaders using humor risk damaging their reputation, as humor often requires moral offense to be funny. This creates a dangerous tension between leadership and workplace humor, impacting organizational norms and leader perception.

Area of Science:

  • Organizational Behavior
  • Psychology
  • Communication Studies

Background:

  • Humor is frequently employed by successful leaders for motivation and inspiration.
  • Recent studies indicate that leader humor carries significant risks within organizational settings.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the complex relationship between humor, morality, and leadership effectiveness.
  • To analyze the inherent risks associated with using humor in a leadership context.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of existing research on humor and leadership.
  • Analysis of the moral implications of humor in professional environments.

Main Results:

  • Humor is often perceived as funny only when it is morally offensive to some.
Keywords:
Benign Violation TheoryHumorLeadershipMorality

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  • Leader's use of humor can signal acceptable moral standards but also violates norms, posing risks.
  • Extreme cases of leader humor can be dangerous and detrimental to organizational dynamics.

    • Conclusions:

    • The use of humor by leaders is a high-risk strategy due to its inherent link with moral offense.
    • Further research is needed to understand the nuances and implications of workplace humor in leadership.
    • Future research should explore the conditions under which humor can be safely and effectively used by leaders.