Research Paper on:
Workplace Humor

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
the micro level and from a macro perspective, it is the collective efforts of an entire workforce that keeps national economies running and, hopefully, increasing. However, while work is serious,  it is also true that humor and laughter are an intrinsic part of what defines being human. It is an intrinsic part of the human condition. Provine (2000) defines laughter  as "speaking in tongues" because it is a sound that is universally understood by all human beings, as it is an unconscious response to social and linguistic cues (p. 58).  Provine (2000) also asserts that laughter can be defined as a "social vocalization that binds people together" (p. 58). It is a "language" that all human beings speak. Research has  long shown that humor and the natural reaction to humor, i.e. laughter, is not a learned group reaction but an instinctive behavior that appears to be programmed into the  human genome (Provine, 2000). Considering the intrinsic nature of humor in human relationships, it is not surprising that an examination of humor in the workplace demonstrates that this lighter aspect  of human interaction has a serious role to play. According to Clyde Fahlman, a former business executive who now teaches a university level course in workplace humor, humor on the  job can draw people together, inspire creativity, improve health, create a pleasant work environment, reduce stress and help keep workday situations in perspective (Smith, 2003). While this litany of beneficial  effects supports the notion that humor in the workplace has a serious purpose, there is also a caveat to this endorsement of humor, which is to recognize that humor can  also be used for destructive purposes that serve to drive people apart, rather than draw them together. The following examination looks at both sides of humor in the workplace.