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Web End = J Bus Psychol (2015) 30:759772 DOI 10.1007/s10869-014-9396-z
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Web End = Examining the Energizing Effects of Humor: The Inuence of Humor on Persistence Behavior
David Cheng Lu Wang
Published online: 27 December 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014
AbstractPurpose This paper examines whether, when, and how humor can increase individuals persistence. Design/Methodology/Approach Two laboratory studies were conducted using 124 students from a large Australian university to examine the causal impact of humor exposure on persistence.
Findings The results show that exposure to humor increases individuals persistence in two different tasks and that this effect is mediated by the discrete emotion of amusement (Study 1). Moreover, the positive effect of humor on persistence is stronger for individuals with higher levels of self-enhancing humor style (Study 2). Implications Humor is not only entertaining but also replenishing. Individuals engaging in activities that require persistence may benet from exposure to humor. Therefore, organizations that require their employees to persist may consider creating a playful culture that encourages the use of humor to increase employees persistence. Originality/Value Our study is the rst to systematically examine the inuence of humor on persistence. Going beyond anecdotal and correlational evidence, we document the causal impact of humor exposure on persistence using an experimental design. The ndings contribute to the psychology of persistence by showing that humor can be used to increase persistence behavior. In addition, ours is the rst study to show that the discrete emotion of amusement mediates the relationship between humor and
persistence, and that the effect of humor on persistence is greater for individuals who are high in self-enhancing humor style.
Keywords Persistence Self-regulation Humor
Amusement
Amos (Tversky) was always very funny, and in his presence I became funny as well, so we spent hours of solid work in continuous amusement. The pleasure we found working together made us exceptionally patient; it is much easier to strive for perfection when you are never bored Daniel Kahneman
Persistence is often the key to success. Sales people need to persist in persuading customers...
