Humor in organizational dynamics: affiliative and aggressive humor, creativity and constructive voice

Abstract This study examines how employees’ perceptions of affiliative and aggressive humor influence creativity and constructive voice in organizational settings. We propose that affiliative humor fosters a supportive work environment for employees with higher liking of humorous situations, thereby enhancing creative thinking and encouraging proactive communication. In contrast, aggressive humor is expected to undermine these outcomes. To test our model, we collected 228 self-reported survey data in three waves from employees in Taiwan, ensuring temporal precedence and minimizing common method bias. Findings reveal that affiliative humor is positively associated with constructive voice, with creativity conditionally mediating this relationship. Liking of humorous situations moderates the positive effects of affiliative humor, such that individuals with higher liking of humorous situations exhibit a stronger relationship between affiliative humor, creativity, and constructive voice. Surprisingly, the anticipated negative effects of aggressive humor on creativity and constructive voice were not supported. These results incorporate mediating and moderating processes, offer a more detailed understanding of how humor impacts workplace behaviors and contribute to both theory and practice by clarifying the role of individual differences in humor perception.