Abstract This study investigates humor by mediators and disputants in 95 civil case mediations. Consistent with the majority of the humor literature, as well as with the descriptive and prescriptive literature on mediation, we found that some humor was used by mediators and disputants in a “nice” and affiliative way, to control tension and to facilitate amicable relationships. Some of that humor also came in the form of reciprocal back-and-forth banter or in a positive and affiliative form that was unrelated to the mediation itself. However, many incidents of humor were harsh, as well as aggressive, and that humor often served specific functions within the mediation context. Mediators, and, to a lesser extent, disputants, used humor as a means of applying pressure to another party. Disputants, but seldom mediators, used humor defensively, to counter the pressure applied to them. We discuss how our results stand in contrast to the conventional wisdom about humor; we extend humor and conflict theory by integrating theory and perspectives on power; and we explain how our findings might extend to various social situations that involve power differentials between parties.

中文翻译：

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民事案件调解中的幽默：一种功能性方法

摘要 本研究调查了 95 起民事案件调解中调解员和争议方的幽默。与大多数幽默文献以及关于调解的描述性和规定性文献一致，我们发现调解员和争论者以“友好”和亲和的方式使用了一些幽默，以控制紧张局势并促进友好关系。其中一些幽默也以相互的来回玩笑的形式出现，或者以与调解本身无关的积极和亲和的形式出现。然而，许多幽默事件既严厉又具有攻击性，而且这种幽默通常在调解环境中发挥特定作用。调解员，以及在较小程度上的争论者，使用幽默作为向另一方施加压力的手段。争论者，但很少调解人，使用幽默来防御，来对抗施加在他们身上的压力。我们讨论我们的结果与关于幽默的传统智慧有何不同；我们通过整合理论和权力观点来扩展幽默和冲突理论；我们解释了我们的发现如何扩展到涉及政党之间权力差异的各种社会情况。