Job candidates and entrepreneurs who brag with a joke come across as both warmer and more competent than those who simply promote themselves, according to four studies.
Jieun Pai, Eileen Y. Chou and Nir Halevy published “The Humor Advantage: Humorous Bragging Benefits Job Candidates and Entrepreneurs” in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, online on December 20, 2023.
The self-promotion paradox
People who need to share their accomplishments, from job seekers to founders, face a built-in tension between showing what they have done and not appearing arrogant.
The authors propose “humorbragging”, working self-enhancing humor into self-promoting communication, as a way to signal warmth and competence at the same time.
Recruiters and investors
In Study 1, a humorbragging resume attracted more hiring interest from recruiters than a straightforwardly self-promoting one.
Study 2 showed why: perceived warmth and competence mediated the positive effect of humorbragging on hiring intentions.
Study 3 moved to startups. Entrepreneurs who humorbragged were more successful at securing funding than entrepreneurs who used other kinds of humor.
Finally, Studies 4a to 4c established that the boost to hiring intentions is unique to self-enhancing humor, rather than coming from humor in general.
The authors present humorbragging as an effective impression management strategy, with the key condition that the joke serves the boast.
Study Details:
- Title: The Humor Advantage: Humorous Bragging Benefits Job Candidates and Entrepreneurs
- Authors: Jieun Pai, Eileen Y. Chou, Nir Halevy
- Journal: Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
- Publication Date: December 20, 2023
- DOI: 10.1177/01461672231214462