Office humor, also often called workplace comedy, is

humor Humour ( Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids i ...

within the workplace, particularly in the office environment. It is a subject that receives significant attention from students of

industrial and organizational psychology Industrial and organizational psychology (I-O psychology) "focuses the lens of psychological science on a key aspect of human life, namely, their work lives. In general, the goals of I-O psychology are to better understand and optimize the effec ...

and of the

sociology of work Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociology was coined in t ...

, as well as in

popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art

f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...

or mass art, sometimes contraste ...

Academic considerations

Humor is an inevitable part of the social environment of work, and has been argued to be a potential tool for improving worker satisfaction and organizational results. Studies have suggested that humor can increase worker cohesiveness, creativity, motivation, and resilience in the face of adversity.Wijewardena, Nilupama, Hartel, Charmine E. J., and Samaratunge, Ramanie. "A laugh a day is sure to keep the blues away: managers' use of humor and the construction and destruction of employees' resilience." In Wilfred J. Zerbe, Charmine E. J. Härtel and Neal M. Ashkanasy, eds., ''Emotions and Organizational Dynamism'' (

Emerald Group Publishing Emerald Publishing Limited is a scholarly publisher of academic journals and books, headquartered in Leeds, England. Originally focused in the areas of social sciences and management, including management, business, education, and library stud ...

, 2010), , pp. 259-278.
Excerpts available
at

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

. On the other hand, workplace humor (especially negative humor) can also be misused to reinforce

bigotry Prejudice can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived social group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classification of another person based on that pers ...

, denigrate minorities, create an atmosphere of physical or

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...

, or as a management tool to reinforce managerial authority.

Legal considerations

Inappropriate workplace humor may be deemed as "evidence in

discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...

and

hostile work environment In United States labor law, a hostile work environment exists when one's behavior within a workplace creates an environment that is difficult or uncomfortable for another person to work in, due to illegal discrimination. However, a working environm ...

cases".T. Shawn Taylor
"Political correctness (and lawsuits) make workplace humor serious issue."
''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'', April 26, 2002. It has led to serious consequences in cases such as the Krull case, where the

ombudsman An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

King County, Washington King County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of counties in Washington, most populo ...

was fired for sending a copy of the 1894 booklet '' Instruction and Advice for the Young Bride'' to his soon-to-be-married assistant, or

Chevron Corporation Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation predominantly specializing in oil and gas. The second-largest direct descendant of Standard Oil, and originally known as the Standard Oil Company of California (shortened t ...

having to pay more than $2 million as a settlement with four employees after an interoffice email circulated on the subject of "25 Reasons Why Beer is Better Than Women".

Representations in popular culture

Office humor is the focus of comic strips (''

Dilbert ''Dilbert'' is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Scott Adams, first published on April 16, 1989. It is known for its satire, satirical office humor about a White-collar worker, white-collar, micromanagement, micromanaged offic ...

'', ''Gaus Electronics'', ''Help Desk'', '' Misaeng'', ''

User Friendly ''User Friendly'' was a webcomic written by J. D. Frazer, also known by his pen name Illiad. Starting in 1997, the strip was one of the earliest webcomics to make its creator a living. The comic is set in a fictional internet service provider a ...

'', ''

Sosiaalisesti rajoittuneet ''Sosiaalisesti rajoittuneet'' ("The Socially Challenged (ones)") is a Finnish people, Finnish webcomic written by Ossi Mäntylahti and Pekka Piira and drawn by Jukka Piira. The comic is about a fictional software company and the IT industry in ...

''), movies (''

Office Space ''Office Space'' is a 1999 American satirical black comedy film written and directed by Mike Judge. It satirizes the office work life of a typical 1990s software company, focusing on a handful of individuals weary of their jobs. It stars Ron ...

'', ''

Head Office Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

''), TV series ''(

Abbott Elementary ''Abbott Elementary'' is an American mockumentary sitcom television series created by Quinta Brunson for ABC. It stars Brunson as Janine Teagues, a perpetually optimistic second-grade teacher at the underfunded Abbott Elementary, a fictional p ...

'', '' Parks and Recreation'', '' Mythic Quest'', ''

Brooklyn Nine-Nine ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' is an American police procedural sitcom television series that aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox, and later on NBC, from September 17, 2013, to September 16, 2021, for eight seasons and 153 episodes. Created by Dan G ...

'', ''

The Office ''The Office'' is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as '' The Office'' in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as manager and primary charac ...

'', ''

30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satire, satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live' ...

'', '' Superstore)'' and contemporary art (as in works by Mike Kelley"Mike Kelley, Three Projects: Half a Man, From My Institution to Yours, and Pay for Your Pleasure"
,

Renaissance Society The Renaissance Society, founded in 1915, is a leading independent contemporary art museum located on the campus of the University of Chicago, with a focus on the commissioning and production of new works by international artists. The kunsthalle- ...

, May 1988.).

Academic considerations

Legal considerations

Representations in popular culture

References

Further reading