A double-edged sword: The nature of team comedians in sport teams

Abstract

Recent literature identified several informal roles (i.e., those that naturally arise without coaches’ delegation of responsibilities) that may be relevant for sport teams. Among them, team comedians are defined as those who consistently use humor in their environments. Given humor is an integral component of interpersonal relationships and intragroup functions, team comedians may have a critical influence within their teams. The purpose of this study was to explore the nature of team comedians (i.e., their behaviors, how they emerge, their impact on team functioning, how their humor is managed by other members). Thematic analysis of data gathered via semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 13 coaches and 27 athletes from 7 teams revealed several themes pertaining to the behaviors, emergence, outcomes, and the management of team comedians. Team comedians’ most frequent behaviors involved playful teasing of teammates, though they also engaged in self-disparaging humor, as well as aggressive humor toward teammates and/or their opponents. Athletes’ emergence as team comedians appeared to be influenced by a variety of role-occupant related (e.g., outgoing personality, higher status) and contextual (e.g., coach influence, team environment) factors. Depending on the nature of their behaviors, both positive (e.g., enjoyment, team integration, reduced tension) and negative (e.g., conflicts) outcomes ensued. These findings offer insight regarding informal role emergence and illuminate the double-edged nature of team comedians and humor in sport contexts. Potential strategies and future research directions focusing on the promotion of positive uses of humor by team comedians are discussed. Lay summary: This study explored coaches’ and athletes’ perceptions of team comedians. They used various forms of humor that had positive (e.g., enjoyment) and negative (e.g., conflicts) outcomes. Several factors influenced team comedians’ emergence (e.g., personality, team environment). This study highlights the dynamic aspects of team comedians and their humor. Implications for Practice Athletes who use humor frequently are encouraged to consider the content of their humor and the contexts under which they occur. Coaches should encourage athletes to engage in positive forms of humor that include suitable content and occur under appropriate contexts. Strategies for managing negative humor include ignoring the behavior, addressing the behavior directly/indirectly, establishing team norms and rules, and allowing athletes time to socialize prior to game/practice sessions.