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The Experience of Failed Humor: Implications for Interpersonal Affect Regulation
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

The Experience of Failed Humor: Implications for Interpersonal Affect Regulation

Michele Williams and Kyle Emich
Journal of business and psychology, Vol.29(4), pp.651-668
12/2014
DOI: 10.1007/s10869-014-9370-9
PMCID: PMC4232757
PMID: 25414546
url
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-014-9370-9View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate failed interpersonal affect regulation through the lens of humor. We investigated individual differences that influenced people’s affective and cognitive responses to failed humor and their willingness to persist in the interpersonal regulation of positive affect after a failed attempt.Using well-established autobiographical narrative methods and surveys, we collected data at two time points. All participants (n = 127) received identical surveys at time 1. At time 2, they were randomly assigned to complete a narrative about either successful or failed humor as well as a second survey.Using moderated regression analyses and SEM, we found significant differences between our failed and successful humor conditions. Specifically, individual differences, including gender, affective perspective taking, and humor self-efficacy, were associated with negative reactions to failed humor and the willingness of individuals to persist in the interpersonal regulation of positive affect. Moreover, affective perspective taking moderated the effect of gender in both the failed and successful humor conditions.Our results suggest that failed humor is no laughing matter. Understanding individuals’ willingness to continue in attempts to regulate the affect of others contributes to the comprehension of an understudied phenomenon that has implications for interpersonal behavior in organizations such as helping, group decision making, and intragroup conflict.Studies of interpersonal affect regulation often focus on people’s ability to successfully regulate others’ emotions. In contrast, this is the first quantitative study to explore factors that influence individual’s willingness to persist in interpersonal affect regulation after failure, and to investigate how individual differences influence the personal outcomes associated with failed attempts.
 Personality and Social Psychology Affect-related individual differences Affective perspective taking Narrative methodology Psychology Motivation to persist Social Sciences, general Efficacy Gender differences Industrial, Organisational and Economic Psychology Community and Environmental Psychology Humor Interpersonal affect regulation Business/Management Science, general

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