Job Distress is no Laughing Matter in Marriage, or is it?

Abstract

The present study examines the different ways in which couples use humor to deal with problems when they also are experiencing troubles at work. A review of psychological research on humor and sociological studies on blue-collar marriage suggests two models for predicting the above relationship. The companionship model predicts that job distress relates to less sharing of laughter and humor. The coping model predicts that job distress is associated with the couple using more humor to deal with negative marital affect. The above models are tested in a sample of fifty-two married couples (balanced for social class) who were videotaped while trying to resolve a troublesome issue of recurring disagreement. They also completed questionnaires measuring job distress, companionship and conflict avoidance. The observational and self-report data converge in showing that the companionship model is more applicable to white-collar husbands than to blue-collar husbands, and this seems to be related to the difference in job distress between the two groups. On the other hand, the coping model is more applicable to blue-collar husbands and wives. Finally, both models are more applicable to blue-collar wives than white-collar wives, and this may be due to differences in work status (paid labor vs housework) and freedom for emotional expression.