Theses and Dissertations from DePaul University

Date of Award

Spring 2026

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

College

College of Science and Health

First Advisor

Alice Stuhlmacher

Abstract

There has been much discourse in the popular press, political, and professional spheres about the humor used by leaders and aspiring leaders. Although humor is seen as mostly positive in the workplace, there have been significant findings that humor’s impact is influenced by gender/sex. Male humor use is often seen as functional, while female humor use is seen as disruptive (Evans et al., 2019). This study examines how humor and gender/sex affects likeability and professional respect for leaders. It was predicted that humor use would increase male leaders likeability and professional respect while decreasing these rating for female leaders. Participants were placed in an online experiment where they reported their reactions to male and female leaders either using or omitting humor in communication to followers. Results of the experiment showed that a significant difference in likeability did occur when humor was implemented, with a significant effect for female leaders.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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