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35 - Schadenfreude at Work

from Part V - Discrete Emotions at Work

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 June 2020

By
Diep Nguyen  and
Kara Ng
Edited by
Liu-Qin Yang ,
Russell Cropanzano ,
Catherine S. Daus  and
Vicente Martínez-Tur
Liu-Qin Yang
Affiliation:
Portland State University
Russell Cropanzano
Affiliation:
University of Colorado
Catherine S. Daus
Affiliation:
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Vicente Martínez-Tur
Affiliation:
Universitat de València, Spain
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Summary

A classic comedy cliché is a man slipping on a banana peel, with audiences laughing as he struggles and falls again. From Shakespeare to the Three Stooges to modern sitcoms, slapstick comedy has had such a prominent place in entertainment that scholars have scratched their heads to understand why and how we seemingly enjoy the pain of others. Some propose that laughter is a way to release pent-up tension, while others suggest that laughter is a response to the incongruity inherent in comedy (Peacock, 2014). But how can we explain these feelings, derived from someone’s misfortune, in contexts such as the workplace, where such humor or pleasure are considered inappropriate?

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Workplace Affect , pp. 468 - 480
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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