Supervisor Humor as a Predictor of Employee Voice and Intention to Quit

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to better understand how supervisors’ use of positive humor affects subordinates’ articulated dissent and intention to quit. The study presents a hypothesized model in which supervisors’ successful use of humor, as mediated through homophily and job satisfaction, accounts for subordinates’ articulated dissent and intention to quit. However, the results support a trimmed model in which supervisors’ use of humor predicted subordinates’ articulated dissent and intention to quit, mediated by job satisfaction only. Additionally, implications and recommendations based on the findings are presented.

Keywords

humor homophily job satisfaction intention to quit dissent

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aladwan

Bhanugopan

Fish

(2013). Why do employees jump ship? Examining intent to quit employment in a non-western cultural context. Employee Relations, 35(4), 408–422. https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-03-2012-0027

Allisey

A. F.

Noblet

A. J.

Lamontagne

A. D.

Houdmont

(2014). Testing a model of officer intentions to quit: The mediating effects of job stress and job satisfaction. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 41(6), 751–771. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854813509987

Andrews

F. M.

Withey

S. B.

(1976). Social indicators of well-being: Americans’ perceptions of life quality. Plenum Press.

Anjary

F. H.

Ali

(2024). Homophily & YouTube content creators. Journal of Mass Communicatio, 30(1), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.46568/jmcd.v30i01.356

Bartzik

Bentrup

Hill

Bley

von Hirschhausen

Krause

Ahaus

Dahl-Dichmann

Peifer

(2021). Care for joy: Evaluation of a humor intervention and its effects on stress, flow experience, work enjoyment, and meaningfulness of work. Frontiers in Public Health, 9, Article 667821. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.667821

Bond

R. M.

Sweitzer

M. D.

(2022). Political homophily in a large-scale online communication network. Communication Research, 49(1), 93–115. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650218813655

Brender-Ilan

Reizer

(2021). How do we perceive a humorous manager? Manager humor, impression management, and employee willingness to work with the manager. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 628350. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.628350

Byrne

B. M.

(2016). Structural equation modeling with AMOS: Basic concepts, applications, and programming. Routledge.

Call

A. C.

Flam

R. W.

Lee

J. A.

Sharp

N. Y.

(2024). Managers’ use of humor on public earnings conference calls. Review of Accounting Studies, 29(3), 2650–2687. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11142-023-09764-x

10.

Chen

Ayoun

(2019). Is negative workplace humor really all that “negative”? Workplace humor and hospitality employees’ job embeddedness. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 79, 41–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2018.12.010

11.

Cohen

(1993). Work commitment in relation to withdrawal intentions and union effectiveness. Journal of Business Research, 26(1), 75–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/0148-2963(93)90044-P

12.

Croucher

S. M.

Kelly

Chen

Rocker

K. J.

Cullinane

Homsey

Ding

G. G.

Nguyen

Anderson

K. J.

Green

Ashwell

Wright

Palakshappa

(2021). Articulated dissent and immediacy: A cross-national analysis of the effects of COVID-19 lockdowns. International Journal of Conflict Management, 33(2), 181–202. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCMA-04-2021-0062

13.

Croucher

S. M.

Kelly

Zeng

(2025). Statistical methods of communication studies. Routledge.

14.

Cundall

M. K.

Jr. (2007). Humor and the limits of incongruity. Creativity Research Journal, 19(2–3), 203–211. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400410701397263

15.

Cundall

M. K.

(2021). Got IT?: Introducing incongruity theory. In Marra

Gimbel

(Eds). It’s funny cause it’s true: An introduction to philosophy through humor (pp. 53–63). Lighthearted Open Access.

16.

Cundall

M. K.

(2025a). Humor and the common good: Why humor is important for the good life. De Gruyter Brill. https://doi.org/10.0000/9783110760156

17.

Cundall

M. K.

(2025b). Putting humor to work. Palgrave Macmillan.

18.

Cundall

M. K.

Kelly

Rocker

Goke

Barrentine

Dawkins

(2022). Supervisor communicative behaviors as influence of subordinate burnout: The mediating effects of perceived immediacy and burnout. The Israeli Journal of Humor Studies, 11(1), 6–28. http://www.israeli-humor-studies.org/media/02-supervisor_communicative_behaviours.pdf

19.

Downward

Webb

Dawson

(2024). Referee abuse, intention to quit, and well-being. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 95(1), 207–217. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701367.2023.2184459

20.

Fiedler

(2007). Construal level theory as an integrative framework for behavioral decision-making research and consumer psychology. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 17(2), 101–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1057-7408(07)70015-3

21.

Esteve-Del-Valle

(2022). Homophily and polarization in Twitter political networks: A cross-country analysis. Media and Communication, 10(2), 81–92. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v10i2.4948

22.

Foresman

(2021). Response: RIP 2855. In Cundall

M. K.

Jr Kelly

(Eds.), Cases on applied and therapeutic humor (pp. 80–87). IGI Global.

23.

Fourie

De Beer

L. T.

Els

(2020). A play-at-work intervention: What are the benefits? South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, 23(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajems.v23i1.2815

24.

Gimbel

(2017). Isn’t that clever: A philosophical account of humor and comedy. Routledge.

25.

Guidice

R. M.

Mesmer-Magnus

Barnes

D. C.

Scribner

L. L.

(2023). Service amid crisis: The role of supervisor humor and discretionary organizational support. Journal of Services Marketing, 37(2), 168–183. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSM-07-2021-0260

26.

Haque

Fernando

Caputi

(2019). Responsible leadership, affective commitment and intention to quit: An individual level analysis. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 40(1), 45–64. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-12-2017-0397

27.

Harman

H. H.

(1960). Modern factor analysis. University of Chicago Press.

28.

Huang

M. J.

(2023). Leader self-deprecating humor and employee creativity at workplace: A longitudinal study. Review of Managerial Science, 17(2), 467–492. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11846-022-00532-w

29.

Jyoti

Dimple . (2022). Fun at workplace and intention to leave: role of work engagement and group cohesion. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 34(2), 782–807. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-06-2021-0704

30.

Kassing

J. W.

(1997). Articulating, antagonizing, and displacing: A model of employee dissent. Communication Studies, 48(4), 311–332. https://doi.org/10.1177/089331802237234

31.

Kassing

J. W.

(2000). Investigating the relationship between superior-subordinate relationship quality and employee dissent. Communication Research Reports, 17(1), 58–69. https://doi.org/10.1080/08824090009388751

32.

Kassing

J. W.

Piemonte

N. M.

Goman

C. C.

Mitchell

C. A.

(2012). Dissent expression as an indicator of work engagement and intention to leave. Journal of Business Communication, 49(3), 237–253. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021943612446751

33.

Kelly

Drye

Brown

W. S.

(2023a). Supervisor listening as a predictor of subordinate dissent. Communication Reports, 36(1), 41–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/08934215.2022.2106502

34.

Kelly

Zeng

Cundall

M. K.

Jr. (2023b). Subordinate articulated dissent as influenced by supervisor behaviors: The hazards of humor. International Journal of Business Communication. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/23294884231166405

35.

Kim

Kyong Lee

(2023). From organizational gossip to a corporate crisis: A network analysis of anonymous online communication on the blind application. International Journal of Business Communication. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/23294884231217084

36.

Lee

S. K.

Kim

Piercy

C. W.

(2019). The role of status differentials and homophily in the formation of social support networks of a voluntary organization. Communication Research, 46(2), 208–235. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650216641501

37.

Lee

S. K.

Lee

(2015). Creative interaction and multiplexity in intraorganizational networks. Management Communication Quarterly, 29(1), 56-83. https://doi.org/10.1177/0893318914553120

38.

Liu

(2023). I will speak up if I feel energetic: Effects of supervisor humor on employee voice. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 956499. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.956499

39.

Liberman

Trope

(1998). The role of feasibility and desirability considerations in near and distant future decisions: A test of temporal construal theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75(1), 5–18. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0022-3514.75.1.5

40.

Lin

Lam

L. W.

Zhang

L. L.

(2020). The curvilinear relationship between job satisfaction and employee voice: Speaking up for the organization and the self. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 37(2), 587–607. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10490-018-9622-8

41.

Liu

Chow

I. H. S.

Gong

Huang

(2020). Affiliative and aggressive humor in leadership and their effects on employee voice: a serial mediation model. Review of Managerial Science, 14(6), 1321–1339. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11846-019-00334-7

42.

Martin

(2007). The psychology of humor: An integrative approach. Academic Press.

43.

McCroskey

J. C.

Hamilton

P. R.

Weiner

A. N.

(1974). The effect of interaction behavior on source credibility, homophily, and interpersonal attraction. Human Communication Research, 1(1), 42–52. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.1974.tb00252.x

44.

McCroskey

J. C.

Richmond

V. P.

Daly

J. A.

(1975). The development of a measure of perceived homophily in interpersonal communication. Human Communication Research, 1(4), 323–332. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.1975.tb00281.x

45.

McCroskey

J. C.

Richmond

V P

Stewart

R. A.

(1986). One on one: The foundations of interpersonal communication. Prentice-Hall.

46.

McGraw

A. P.

Warren

(2010). Benign violations: Making immoral behavior funny. Psychological Science, 21(8), 1141–1149. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610376073

47.

McPherson

Smith-Lovin

Cook

J. M.

(2001). Birds of a feather: Homophily in social networks. Annual Review of Sociology, 27(8), 415–444. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.27.1.415

48.

Mowbray

P. K.

Wilkinson

Tse

H. H.

(2015). An integrative review of employee voice: Identifying a common conceptualization and research agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews, 17(3), 382–400. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12045

49.

Pelly

(2023). Worker well-being and quit intentions: Is measuring job satisfaction enough? Social Indicators Research, 169, 397–441. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-023-03166-x

50.

Potipiroon

Ford

M. T.

(2021). Does leader humor influence employee voice? The mediating role of psychological safety and the moderating role of team humor. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 28(4), 415–428. https://doi.org/10.1177/15480518211036464

51.

Ramsey

M. C.

Meyer

J. C.

(2025). Uniting and dividing: An examination of supervisors’ humor use as a predictor of subordinate dissent expression. Communication Reports, 38(2), 105–117. https://doi.org/10.1080/08934215.2024.2432328

52.

Robert

(2023). Humor and job satisfaction. Current Opinion in Psychology, 54, Article 101721. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2023.101721

53.

Shahidi

Ali

K. A. M.

Idris

(2024). Perceived organizational culture and employee performance: Moderating role of supervisor humor. Evidence-Based HRM: A Global Forum for Empirical Scholarship, 12(2), 305–335.

54.

Sidelinger

R. J.

Bell McManus

L. M.

(2020). Mentoring faculty and bolstering students’ emotional and cognitive interest: The impact of perceived homophily in the college classroom. Journal of the Association for Communication Administration, 39(1), Article 4. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/jaca/vol39/iss1/4/

55.

Spector

P. E.

(2019). Do not cross me: Optimizing the use of cross-sectional designs. Journal of Business and Psychology, 34(2), 125–137. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10869-018-09613-8

56.

Trope

Liberman

Wakslak

(2007). Construal levels and psychological distance: Effects on representation, prediction, evaluation, and behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 17(2), 83–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1057-7408(07)70013-X

57.

Vandenberg

R. J.

Nelson

J. B.

(1999). Disaggregating the motives underlying turnover intentions: When do intentions predict turnover behavior? Human Relations, 52(10), 1313–1336. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016964515185

58.

Wang

Walther

J. B.

Pingree

Hawkins

R. P.

(2008). Health information, credibility, homophily, and influence via the Internet: Web sites versus discussion groups. Health Communication, 23(4), 358–368. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410230802229738

59.

West

M. S.

Martin

M. M.

(2019). Students’ perceptions of instructor appropriateness and humor homophily. Communication Education, 68(3), 328–349. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2019.1608368

60.

Wright

(2000). Perceptions of on-line support providers: An examination of perceived homophily, source credibility, communication and social support within on-line support groups. Communication Quarterly, 48(1), 44–59. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463370009385579

61.

Wood

R. E.

Beckmann

Rossiter

J. R.

(2011). Management humor: Asset or liability? Organizational Psychology Review, 1(4), 316–338. https://doi.org/10.1177/2041386611418393

62.

Zanin

A. C.

Bisel

R. S.

Adame

E. A.

(2016). Supervisor moral talk contagion and trust-in- supervisor: Mitigating the workplace moral mum effect. Management Communication Quarterly, 30(2), 147–163. https://doi.org/10.1177/0893318915619755

63.

Zeng

Kelly

Goke

(2020). Exploring the impacts of leader integrity and ethics on upward dissent and whistleblowing intentions. Communication Reports, 33(2), 82–94. https://doi.org/10.1080/08934215.2020.1761413