No Joking Matter! The Negative Effects of Humour at Work

Original article published by the NSCA Foundation

A paper published in the European Journal of Humour Research has explored the relationship between humour and workplace bullying and found that humour in the workplace, although typically linked to wellbeing and happiness, can also have a dark side. University of Auckland researcher Dr Barbara Plester said that she did not set out to study bullying when she and her co-authors, Business School doctoral candidate Emily Brewer and Professor Tim Bentley of Edith Cowan University, commenced a multi-year study of humour and organisational culture. However, their research within four New Zealand-based organisations, which involved worker observation, in-depth interviews, document collection, and ad hoc discussions with participants, revealed a culture around humour within one business that was not entirely funny. In the (now defunct) business, which had fewer than 30 employees, the researchers observed sexualised, dominating and hierarchical humour. However, all of the employees said they did not consider it to be bullying.

“I didn’t want to get into what I call the dark side of humour, but I found it, and our paper investigates the relationship between humour and bullying and suggests that this type of bullying can be even more insidious and difficult to address because the use of humour creates a smokescreen, which to some extent protects the perpetrator,” Plester said.

Plester said that it is difficult for employees to call out bullying when it’s packaged like a joke, as this distances them from those involved in the humour and defines them as ‘other’ within their organisational culture. “Although the interactions we looked at were unanimously identified as humour by all staff members, our interpretation and construction suggest that these joking social behaviours can be perceived as bullying,” Plester said.

Using the criteria for bullying as repeated, dominating, negative behaviour, the researchers attest that bullying in the organisation was perpetrated and disguised as rebellious behaviour. When left unchallenged, and in the hands of those skilled in performance and delivery, and without the option for the support of a human resources team, such humorous bullying can have devastating consequences and may cause embarrassment, confusion and harm, according to Plester. “In addressing this emerging insight into a form of bullying, we invite further explorations into the relationship between humour and bullying and reassert that sometimes ‘just joking’ may not be funny at all,” Plester said.

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