【作者】 王莹；

【导师】 胡汉辉；

【作者基本信息】 东南大学 ， 管理科学与工程， 2025， 博士

【摘要】 在日益动荡、不确定、复杂和模糊的VUCA(即Volatility、Uncertainty、Complexity、Ambiguity)时代,我国企业正面临着前所未有的外部环境挑战。市场需求瞬息万变,技术进步日新月异,全球化竞争日趋激烈,使得企业保持竞争优势愈发困难。与此同时,职场的代际更迭也推动着组织管理范式的深刻变革。随着“90后”、“00后”逐渐成为职场主力军,传统的权威管理模式正面临诸多挑战。领导幽默逐渐成为企业应对外部环境不确定性挑战、优化内部管理的重要工具之一。然而,尽管领导幽默在管理实践中展现出诸多优势,但其在灵活应用中依然存在诸多矛盾与问题,其作用效果受幽默类型与社会文化等因素的影响。因此,在当前组织管理的宏观与微观背景下,领导幽默应当得到理论界与实践界更多的关注,尤其是不同类型的领导幽默对员工行为的影响机制值得进一步研究。尽管已有研究围绕领导幽默这一概念进行了相应的探讨,为人们理解领导幽默与员工行为之间的关系做出了重要贡献,但仍存在一些亟需深入研究的问题。首先,领导幽默是一个复杂的多维度概念。领导幽默对员工行为的影响效应因幽默类型与使用强度而异。然而已有研究多从领导幽默的整体构念出发探讨其影响效应,导致相关研究结论尚未形成普遍性共识。其次,领导幽默是一种涉及多方互动的职场现象。然而现有研究多聚焦于领导与直接接收员工之间的人际互动,对第三方(旁观员工)的认知及其行为反应关注不足。再次,领导幽默具有复杂的作用机制。尽管已有研究从关系过程、社会交换以及信息加工等多个理论视角出发探讨了领导幽默效应的作用机制,但信息加工机制仍具有较为广泛的研究拓展空间。最后,领导幽默效应具有显著的文化差异与情境依赖性。尽管现有研究从多个层面对领导幽默效应的边界条件进行了探索,但在中国社会文化情境和个体特征层面的研究仍有待深入。鉴于实践与理论背景,本文聚焦“领导幽默对员工行为的影响机制”这一科学问题,以信息加工理论的“信息输入→信息加工→信息输出”过程为整体分析范式,将社会信息加工理论、情绪即社会信息理论以及情感事件理论整合至信息加工理论的分析框架并作为具体理论基础。以“领导幽默类型→员工感知→员工角色外与角色内行为”为总体传导路径,基于幽默的(积极与消极)属性和(人际与自我)指向维度划分,构建以不同类型领导幽默作为复杂信息源(信息输入),通过员工感知(信息加工)影响员工角色外与角色内行为(信息输出)的理论模型,展开三项既相互独立、又相互联系的研究。研究一通过对334份两时点样本的调查,基于社会信息加工理论和情绪即社会信息理论,探讨了领导积极幽默(包括人际与自我幽默)与员工促进性建言与抑制性建言行为之间的中介机制与边界条件。研究发现:员工能够从领导积极幽默中感知到领导的积极情绪(领导积极情绪感知),而领导积极情绪感知会进一步促进员工的促进性建言与抑制性建言行为;同时,相对于抑制性建言而言,领导积极幽默通过领导积极情绪感知对员工促进性建言的间接影响更强。此外,员工权力距离调节了领导积极情绪感知对员工抑制性建言的促进作用,并调节了领导积极情绪感知在领导积极幽默与员工抑制性建言之间的中介作用,即员工权力距离越低,领导积极情绪感知对员工抑制性建言的促进作用越强,领导积极情绪感知在领导积极幽默与员工抑制性建言之间的中介作用也越强。然而,员工权力距离并不能调节领导积极情绪感知对员工促进性建言的影响,即领导积极情绪感知对员工促进性建言的促进作用并不受员工权力距离水平的影响。研究二通过对211份上下级配对样本(子研究1)和295份两时点样本(子研究2)的调查,基于社会信息加工理论,探讨了领导攻击型幽默(人际幽默)与旁观员工组织公民行为之间的中介机制与边界条件。研究发现:领导攻击型幽默会破坏旁观员工对领导的认知信任与情感信任(领导可信性感知),而认知信任与情感信任的破裂进一步降低了旁观员工参与组织公民行为的意愿。同时,领导—旁观员工交换关系缓冲了领导攻击型幽默对旁观员工情感信任的负面影响,并进一步调节了旁观员工对领导的情感信任在领导攻击型幽默与旁观员工组织公民行为之间的中介作用。具体来说,领导—旁观员工交换关系质量越高,领导攻击型幽默对旁观员工情感信任的负面影响越弱,同时旁观员工对领导的情感信任在领导攻击型幽默与旁观员工组织公民行为之间的中介作用也越弱。研究三通过对211份上下级配对样本的调查,基于情感事件理论,探讨了领导自贬型幽默(自我幽默)与员工角色内行为之间非线性关系的中介机制与边界条件。研究发现:员工对领导的喜欢(领导吸引力感知)在领导自贬型幽默与员工角色内行为之间的倒U型关系中起中介作用。具体而言,适度的领导自贬型幽默会增强员工对领导的喜欢,进而激发员工的角色内行为;而过度的领导自贬型幽默则会降低员工对领导的喜欢,进而阻碍员工履行角色内行为。此外,员工性别调节了领导自贬型幽默与员工对领导的喜欢之间的非线性(倒U型)关系,并进一步调节了员工对领导的喜欢在领导自贬型幽默与员工角色内行为关系间的非线性中介作用。即对女性员工而言,领导自贬型幽默与员工对领导的喜欢之间呈现的倒U型关系更强,员工对领导的喜欢在领导自贬型幽默与员工角色内行为之间的倒U型中介效应得到加强;而对男性员工而言,领导自贬型幽默与员工对领导的喜欢呈负相关关系,员工对领导的喜欢在领导自贬型幽默与员工角色内行为关系间的倒U型中介效应并不成立。本文的研究结论将对领导幽默领域的研究成果做出创新性补充。首先,本文基于幽默类型并整合线性与非线性机制,通过对积极型、攻击型、自贬型三种不同类型领导幽默对员工行为的影响过程的研究,更为系统地探索了领导幽默对员工行为的复杂影响机制,弥合了先前有关研究结论的分歧。其次,突破了“领导—直接接收员工”的传统二元关系研究范式,揭示了领导幽默对处于不同角色员工行为的影响机制,为理解领导幽默的影响效应提供了新的分析视角。再次,以信息加工理论为基础,打开了不同类型领导幽默影响员工行为的“信息加工机制黑箱”,进一步丰富了领导幽默效应的信息加工机制研究。最后,聚焦中国社会文化情境与个体特征视角,拓展了领导幽默影响员工行为的边界条件。同时,相关研究结论也将有助于管理者正确认识并合理使用领导幽默这一工具,有效增强领导幽默的积极作用、避免其消极影响。更多还原

【Abstract】 Chinese enterprises face unprecedented external environmental challenges in the increasingly volatile,uncertain,complex,and ambiguous(VUCA)era.Rapidly changing market demands,accelerating technological advancements,and intensifying global competition have made it increasingly difficult for organizations to maintain a competitive edge.Simultaneously,generational shifts in the workplace have driven profound transformations in organizational management paradigms.As Millennials and Gen Z gradually become the backbone of the workplace,traditional authoritative leadership styles are being challenged.In this context,leader humor has emerged as a valuable managerial tool for navigating environmental uncertainty and optimizing internal management.Despite its growing use and demonstrated practical advantages,leader humor remains fraught with contradictions and mixed outcomes,primarily influenced by the style of humor and the cultural context.Therefore,leader humor warrants greater scholarly and practical attention,particularly regarding the mechanisms through which different styles of leader humor influence employees’ behavior.Although prior research has explored the concept of leader humor and its relationships with employees’ behaviors,several key issues remain unresolved.First,leader humor is a complex,multidimensional construct,and its influence on employee behavior can vary significantly depending on the style and intensity of humor employed.However,many existing studies have treated it as a unidimensional concept,contributing to inconsistent findings.Second,leader humor is an inherently interactive workplace phenomenon.However,existing research has predominantly focused on dyadic interactions between leaders and their direct subordinates,neglecting the perceptions and behavioral responses of third-party(bystander)employees.Third,the mechanisms through which leader humor exerts its influence are complex.While prior research has examined them through various theoretical lenses—including relational processes,social exchange,and information processing pathways—the information processing perspective still offers considerable room for further exploration.Finally,the effects of leader humor are highly sensitive to cultural and contextual factors.Although existing studies have explored the boundary conditions of leader humor from multiple perspectives,research within the context of Chinese sociocultural and individual characteristics remains limited.Given the practical and theoretical context,the research focuses on how different styles of leader humor influence employee behavior.Guided by the "information input→information processing → information output" paradigm of Information Processing Theory,Social Information Processing Theory,Emotions as Social Information,and Affective Events Theory are integrated into the overarching information processing framework and serve as the specific theoretical foundation.Taking "leader humor style→employee perception→employee extrarole and in-role behavior" as the overall pathway,and based on the attribute(positive vs.negative)and target(other-directed vs.self-directed)dimensions of humor,a theoretical model is constructed in which different styles of leader humor serve as complex information inputs.These inputs are cognitively processed through employee perceptions,shaping extra-role and in-role behaviors as information outputs.Three independent yet interrelated empirical studies are conducted within this framework to examine the underlying mechanisms.Drawing on Social Information Processing Theory and Emotion as Social Information,Study 1 explores the mediating mechanisms and boundary conditions linking leader positive humor(including interpersonal and self-targeted humor)to employee promotive and prohibitive voice.Based on a two-wave field study involving 334 employees,the results indicate that leader positive humor has a positive indirect effect on employee promotive and prohibitive voice via perceived leader positive emotion.Moreover,the indirect effect on promotive voice is stronger than that on prohibitive voice.In addition,power distance moderates both the direct relationship between perceived leader positive emotion and prohibitive voice,and the indirect relationship between leader positive humor and prohibitive voice via perceived leader positive emotion,such that these relationships are stronger when power distance is lower than high.However,power distance does not moderate the positive relationship between perceived leader positive emotion and promotive voice.Grounded in Social Information Processing Theory,Study 2 explores the mediating mechanisms and boundary conditions between leader aggressive humor(interpersonal humor)and bystanders’ organizational citizenship behavior(OCB).Results from a field study involving 211 leader-bystander dyads and a two-wave field study using 285 employees reveal that witnessing leader aggressive humor reduces bystanders’ cognitive and affective trust in leaders,thereby hindering their OCB.Furthermore,we find that high-quality LMX between bystanders and leaders buffers the negative effect of leader aggressive humor on bystanders’ affective trust in leaders and the indirect effect on their OCB via affective trust.These effects are weaker when LMX is high than when it is low.Based upon Affective Events Theory,Study 3 investigates the curvilinear mediating mechanisms and boundary conditions between leader self-deprecating humor(self-targeted humor)and employees’ in-role behavior.The results from a field study involving 211 leaderfollower dyads reveal that leader self-deprecating humor has an inverted U-shaped(curvilinear)relationship with followers’ liking of leaders,which in turn influences followers’ in-role performance.In addition,compared with male followers,the direct and indirect curvilinear effects of leader self-deprecating humor were pronounced for female followers.The research findings provide several theoretical contributions.First,by distinguishing between humor styles and incorporating both linear and nonlinear mechanisms,the study offers a more nuanced understanding of the complex mechanism through which leader humor influences employee behavior,thereby addressing inconsistencies in prior findings.Second,it moves beyond the traditional leader-follower dyad to include third-party bystanders,offering a fresh perspective on the broader influence of leader humor.Third,based on the Information Processing Theory,it sheds light on the "black box of information processing mechanisms" of different styles of leader humor influencing employee behavior.It also enriches the research on information processing influencing mechanism of leader humor.Finally,by focusing on the Chinese sociocultural context and individual characteristics,the study expands the boundary conditions under which leader humor exerts its influence on employee behavior.These insights also provide practical implications for managers,helping them better understand and appropriately utilize leader humor to enhance its positive effects and mitigate potential negative consequences.更多还原