Nothing to Laugh About: Student Interns' Use of Humor in Response to Workplace Dissatisfaction

Abstract

Humor is an important option for employees responding to frustrating circumstances because humorous responses can be less confrontational than alternative ways of expressing dissatisfaction. The present study examined how student interns enacted humor as a response to workplace dissatisfaction. Results indicated a continuum of humorous messages and a variety of goals motivating those messages. These findings demonstrate the nuances in humor as a way of communicating dissatisfaction while also underscoring the need to further understand how goals and outcomes are related as employees dissent. At a deeper level, these results speak to issues of power and identity as low-positioned, contingent employees used humor to recast their identities apart from their status and to negotiate the boundaries of acceptable communication.

Notes

We also coded the nature of the events or situations that triggered participants' dissatisfaction. Themes included interpersonal conflicts, dissatisfaction with tasks, and dissatisfaction with money or time allotments. These triggers were largely consistent with what one would expect, based on previous literature, and did not affect other variables as shown in chi-square analyses. Due to space limitations, the analysis and discussion of these triggers is not included here but is available from the first author.

Our original intention was to focus on what was said rather than to whom it was spoken, yet, as we examined the data, the number of participants who used humor to express dissatisfaction but not to their supervisors was striking. Therefore, we chose to group messages that downplayed dissatisfaction with messages that were clear about the dissatisfaction but were expressed outside the organization together because both sets of expressions hid the dissatisfaction from supervisors.