Open AccessThe Use of Humor in Employee-to-Employee Workplace Communication: A Systematic Review With Thematic Synthesis
Author(s) -
Stephen R. Taylor,
Jane Simpson,
Claire Hardy
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
international journal of business communication
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.392
H-Index - 53
eISSN - 2329-4892
pISSN - 2329-4884
DOI - 10.1177/23294884211069966
Subject(s) - psychology , thematic analysis , applied psychology , social psychology , qualitative research , public relations , sociology , political science , social science
The aim of this systematic review was to develop a thematic synthesis of existing qualitative studies to explore the use of humor in employee-to-employee workplace communication and provide a greater understanding of this area of research through the experiences of employees. A number of databases were searched using key terms and papers were selected using pre-specified criteria. The thematic synthesis approach of Thomas and Harden was used to review the final 23 papers. The findings from the thematic synthesis resulted in four temporal themes that described how humor was utilized during an employee’s organizational transition: (1) initiation into organizational humor, (2) joining a “tribe”—in-groups and out-groups, (3) exerting influence—humor as power, and (4) using the safety valve—humor to relieve tension. The temporal themes described in this study crossed organizational and cultural divides, where humor formed an essential part of work-based dialog.