Humor and group atmosphere: Development of a short scale for evaluating affiliative and aggressive humor in groups

Abstract

Purpose Given the importance of humor in interpersonal communication in groups and the influence of the positive group atmosphere on group effectiveness, this paper aims to provide initial empirical evidence supporting the validity of a short measure for affiliative and aggressive humor. Design/methodology/approach Starting from existing individual-level measures of humor, this paper develops a short measure of affiliative and aggressive humor in groups. The reliability and validity of this scale in a combined Dutch and Romanian sample are tested. Findings The results support the reliability of the scale, its factorial structure and its predictive validity for positive group atmosphere. Moreover, this papers shows that the measure used in this study captures the affiliative and aggressive humor as group-level phenomena and it is shown that these two forms of humor are antecedents of collective emotional intelligence and group atmosphere. Research limitations/implications This study provides a starting point for further research on the role of affiliative and aggressive humor in groups. Originality/value This paper develops a bi-dimensional measure capturing affiliative and aggressive humor in groups and opens new venues for research that extend the knowledge and understanding of the use of humor in interpersonal communication in groups.