Drawing from the positive psychology paradigm and job demands-resources (JD-R) model, this research investigates the interplay of organisational (humour-endorsing climate [HEC]) and personal resources (employee humour use) to lessen job stress and increase job satisfaction in highly demanding frontline healthcare service roles. Specifically, the authors investigated the extent to which different humour styles (affiliative, self-enhancing and self-defeating humour) influenced job stress and ultimately job satisfaction and the role of an HEC as a moderator in reducing job stress in a residential aged care context.
This study employed a mixed-method approach. Following in-depth interviews, the authors surveyed 301 frontline employees (FLEs) at a large, residential aged care service provider in Australia. The constructs of interest were measured using the scales drawn from the literature and refined from the preliminary interviews.
The study results underscore the importance of both specific types of humour use and a work climate that encourages humour in impacting aged care FLEs’ psychological well-being and job satisfaction. When FLEs used more affiliative and self-enhancing humour, they experienced less job stress. However, the use of self-defeating humour increased job stress. FLEs’ job stress was then strongly negatively associated with job satisfaction. An HEC was also found to benefit FLEs directly and indirectly in the form of reduced job stress as well as improved job satisfaction.
This research adds value to the existing literature on the positive psychology paradigm by highlighting the critical role of humour use in a highly stressful workplace in affecting FLEs’ job stress. The study findings further broaden the JD-R model by showing humour usage and HEC as important personal and job resources at work.
In addition to an HEC as an important aspect of the FLE working environment, the authors found that the distinct types of humour used in the workplace considerably affected job stress and then satisfaction. Accordingly, managers in high-contact healthcare service industries encourage FLEs to deploy appropriate humour and consider it as a criterion in recruitment. Managing employee well-being at work would lead to meeting the ultimate business bottom line.
Despite the prevalent discussion about the benefits of humour across disciplines, little has been known about what factors encourage frontline aged care employees to use humour, and if they do so, whether and to what extent different humour types affect job-related stress. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first empirical work focusing on FLEs’ psychological well-being (job-induced stress) to examine how it can be reduced jointly by their humour use and humour-endorsing (organisational) climate in an aged care service context. The authors further provide empirical evidence of its contribution to boosting job satisfaction.
