Swiss study identifies humour as workplace stress reliever

Humor as a tool for stress relief in the workplace Keystone-SDA

Humour can be used by managers as a tool to improve working relationships and reduce stress. This was shown in a study by the University of Lucerne.

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With a little fun, the mood in the team brightens and motivation increases, author Marina Pletscher was quoted in a press release on Thursday. Humour must be used appropriately so that people laugh together.

Similarities in humour styles would help to positively influence the quality of relationships between superiors and employees. This applies to social and appreciative humour styles.

When aggressive and derogatory jokes are aimed at people, the effect goes in the opposite direction and worsens relationships. Humour styles are not personality traits, but behavioural patterns.

Work-related stress can lead to mental and physical complaints, which in turn can have a negative impact on the economic success of companies in the form of more frequent errors, absences or intentions to change jobs, the university wrote.

Translated from German by DeepL/mga

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