Study finds that women who are funny at work hurt their careers

Study finds that women who are funny at work hurt their careersStudy finds that women who are funny at work hurt their careersHoney, youre a funny girl. Thats me. I just keep them in stitches. Doubled in half.Funny Girl may have been a hit on Broadway, but if you are a woman with a sense of humor, you may want to keep it to yourself, especially in the workplace, according to a new paper.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreThe study, out of a research team from The University of Arizona and The University of Colorado at Boulder, looked atover 300 employees in the U.S. across a wide variety of industries to see how humor was perceived in the workplace amongst the sexes. They referenced other studies that looked at humor in the workplace not specifically focused on gender and found that unsuccessful humor attempts can reduce status. In other words, if you try to be funny at work and ar ent it does not bode well (thats what she said Michael Scott.) However other research has shown that humor in a leader can help with employee morale and satisfaction.But this study wanted to see if humor was perceived differently depending on which sex was using it. It found that womens use of humor will trigger lower ratings of status compared to nonhumorous women, while mens use of humor will trigger higher ratings of status compared to non-humorous men. Womens careers can actually be harmed if they use humor at work.The researchers conducted the study by presenting participants with four videos featuring a retail manager (played by a female actor in two of them and a male actor in the other two) making a sales presentation. One version of the presentation featured a script with no jokes and the other had the actors incorporate workplace appropriate jokes into them. The funnier men were looked at with higher status by the participants than the non-funny men but for women, it was t he opposite. Guess none of these people have seen an Iliza Shlesinger Netflix special.Stereotypes change how humor worksIt, unfortunately, comes down to stereotypes. Because men at work are looked at as ambitious and focused and have a qualitycalled agency which means task oriented and rationale, humor plays into that equation perfectly because it is looked at as something to help relieve stress at work. It acts as a tension reliever. So men get to be associated with the positive interpretation of humor. But women because they are often looked at as less dedicated to their work because they have more family responsibility and therefore couldnt be as focused on their careers as a manget associated with the disruptive qualities of humor. This is when humor is looked at as a nuisance or interruption and makes the woman seem less committed. Somehow women get to be the Al Yankovic of humor while men get to be John Mulaney. In other words, when women are humorous it makes them look like l ess capable leaders.However, the context of this study should be noted as it was based on first impressions. A woman who has shown she is dedicated to her job and also humorous at work may be appreciated more. Hey, Tina Fey didnt become the head writer at Saturday Night Live and then the star and producer of 30 Rock because she wasnt both funny and hard working.Joanne Gilbert, a professor at Alma College in Michigan who studies humor, communication and performance, told The Washington deutsche post dhl that humor can be a beneficial tool for some women in the workplace. If shes in a board meeting of all male colleagues and she can make people laugh, I would absolutely encourage her to do it, Gilbert said. For a woman in a position of power, humor can help humanize her a bit even though it should be perfectly normal for a woman to have an authoritative role.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first sev en words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people