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Natural Awakenings National

Humor Us: Laughing is Good for the Workplace

Is it good to kid around at work? Yes, says University of Missouri-Columbia researcher Chris Robert, who has examined wide-ranging literature on how humor affects our working environment. This assistant professor of management in the Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business has found that occasional humor among colleagues enhances creativity, department cohesiveness and overall performance.

“Humor isn’t incompatible with goals of the workplace. It’s not incompatible with the organization’s desire to be competitive. In fact, we argue that humor is pretty important…,” says Trulaske, who also teaches psychology at his University. He concludes that, “The ability to appreciate humor, the ability to laugh and make others laugh actually has physiological effects on the body that cause people to become more bonded.”

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