Assessing Dispositions Toward Ridicule and Laughter in the Workplace: Adapting and Validating the PhoPhiKat-9 Questionnaire

Abstract

The current paper addresses the measurement of three dispositions toward ridicule and laughter; i.e., gelotophobia (the fear of being laughed at), gelotophilia (the joy of being laughed at), and katagelasticism (the joy of laughing at others). These traits explain inter-individual differences in responses to humor, laughter, and social situations related to humorous encounters. First, an ultra-short form of the PhoPhiKat-45 (Ruch and Proyer, 2009) was adapted in two independent samples (Construction Sample N = 157; Replication Sample N = 1,774). Second, we tested the validity of the PhoPhiKat-9 in two further independent samples. Results showed that the psychometric properties of the ultra-short form were acceptable and the proposed factor structure could be replicated. In Validation Sample 1 (N = 246), we investigated the relation of the three traits to responses in a ridicule and teasing scenario questionnaire. The results replicated findings from earlier studies by showing that gelotophobes assigned the same emotions to friendly teasing and malicious ridicule (predominantly low joy, high fear, and shame). Gelotophilia was mainly predicted by relating joy to both, teasing and ridicule scenarios, while katagelasticism was predicted by assigning joy and contempt to ridicule scenarios. In Validation Sample 2 (N = 1,248), we investigated whether the fear of being laughed at is a vulnerability at the workplace: If friendly teasing and laughter of co-workers, superiors, or customers are misperceived as being malicious, individuals may feel less satisfied and more stressed. The results from a representative sample of Swiss employees showed that individuals with a fear of being laughed at are generally less satisfied with life and work and experience more work stress. Moreover, gelotophilia went along with positive evaluations of one's life and work, while katagelasticism was negatively related to work satisfaction and positively related to work stress. In order to establish good work practices and build procedures against workplace bullying, one needs to consider that individual differences impact on a person's perception of being bullied and assessing the three dispositions may give important insights into team processes.

Eye Contact and Fear of Being Laughed at in a Gaze Discrimination Task

“…Firstly, due to the low prevalence of gelotophobes in non-clinical population, the sample sizes were relatively small. However, both the number of participants selected and the strategy adopted for recruiting them (i.e., construction of extreme groups) were in the line with previous research concerning gelotophobia ( Papousek et al, 2014 ; Ruch et al, 2015 ). Lastly, it is important to indicate that some particular laughter (or humor)-related aspects were not included in these studies.…”

“…The results revealed that individuals with gelotophobia did not show a reduced emotional induction to positive emotions compared with non-gelotophobes; interestingly, however, they showed a higher degree of affective induction to negative emotions, that is, high scores of subjective anxiety or sadness after watching anxiety- or sadness-causing films, respectively. In line with the analysis of gelotophobes’ reactions concerning the affective states of others, Ruch et al (2015) used the Facial Action Coding System to analyze the potential differences between gelotophobes and non-gelotophobes in joy and contempt responses to videos of laughter-eliciting emotions (e.g., amusement or relief). In particular, they found that gelotophobes exhibited reduced facial expressions of joy (i.e., joyful smiles) and more expressions of contempt when they were exposed to laughter-eliciting emotions.…”

Beyond the big five as predictors of dispositions toward ridicule and being laughed at: The HEXACO model and the dark triad

“…Heightened expressions of katagelasticism have been linked with bullying‐type behaviors (already in young children and in adolescents; Proyer, Neukom, Platt & Ruch, ) and with psychopathic personality traits (Proyer, Flisch, Tschupp, Platt & Ruch, ). Like gelotophiles, katagelasticists exhibit low self‐control (Chiu et al ., ), but higher levels of work stress (Hofmann et al ., ).…”

“…Indeed, despite a certain degree of common variance between these two dispositions, they can predict independent psychological outcomes (e.g., relationship satisfaction; Brauer & Proyer, ). Gelotophiles are likelier to use self‐presentation styles aimed at gaining social approval (Renner & Heydasch, ), have a lowered capacity of self‐control (Chiu, Hsu, Lin, Chen & Liu, ), and report higher subjective levels of both personal and occupational satisfaction (e.g., Hofmann, Ruch, Proyer, Platt & Gander, ).…”

Are Clowns Good for Everyone? The Influence of Trait Cheerfulness on Emotional Reactions to a Hospital Clown Intervention

“…Research on personality and humor demonstrates that people habitually differ in the way they cognitively evaluate humorous stimuli ( Ruch and Hehl, 2007 ), use and communicate humor in everyday life ( Craik et al, 1996 ; Fox et al, 2016 ), and emotionally respond to humor ( Ruch, 2007 ; Platt et al, 2013 ; Ruch et al, 2015 ). The predominant emotional reaction to humor was labeled exhilaration 3 (or amusement), which in classifications of emotions is defined as a facet of joy ( Ruch, 1993 ).…”