Pai Jieun, Chou Eileen Y, Halevy Nir
Imperial College London, UK.
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA.
Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2025 Aug;51(8):1330-1344. doi: 10.1177/01461672231214462. Epub 2023 Dec 20.
From job candidates to entrepreneurs, people often face an inherent tension between the need to share personal accomplishments and the need to avoid appearing arrogant. We propose that humorbragging-incorporating self-enhancing humor into self-promoting communications-can signal warmth and competence simultaneously, leading to instrumental benefits. Four studies explored humorbragging as a potential solution to the self-promotion paradox. Study 1 demonstrated that a humorbragging (vs. self-promoting) resume attracted more hiring interest from recruiters. Study 2 showed that perceived warmth and competence mediate the positive effect of humorbragging on hiring intentions. Study 3 found that humorbragging entrepreneurs achieved greater success securing funding compared to entrepreneurs who used other kinds of humor. Finally, Studies 4a to 4c established that the positive effect of humorbragging on hiring intentions is unique to self-enhancing humor. Overall, the current research establishes the instrumental benefits of humorbragging and explains why and when it functions as an effective impression management strategy.
从求职者到企业家,人们常常在分享个人成就的需求与避免显得傲慢的需求之间面临内在的矛盾。我们提出,幽默自夸——即在自我推销的交流中融入自我提升的幽默——可以同时传递温暖和能力,从而带来实用的好处。四项研究探讨了幽默自夸作为解决自我推销悖论的一种潜在方法。研究1表明,一份幽默自夸(与自我推销相比)的简历会吸引招聘人员更多的招聘兴趣。研究2表明,感知到的温暖和能力介导了幽默自夸对招聘意向的积极影响。研究3发现,与使用其他类型幽默的企业家相比,幽默自夸的企业家在获得资金方面取得了更大的成功。最后,研究4a至4c确定,幽默自夸对招聘意向的积极影响是自我提升幽默所独有的。总体而言,当前的研究确立了幽默自夸的实用好处,并解释了它为何以及何时作为一种有效的印象管理策略发挥作用。