Laughter in the Clinic: Humor as Social Organization

While humor has been studied empirically in a wide variety of organizational settings, other than Coser's (1959) study of a private psychiatric hospital, its actual usage in medical locales has barely been addressed. This article extends Coser's analysis by examining humor as a central dimension of social organization in a university‐based outpatient clinic. Using observational data gathered during a two‐year period, we examine interactions between key participants in clinic life: attending physicians and residents; the residents themselves; residents and nurses; residents/attending physicians and patients; and finally, the researchers and clinic personnel. We demonstrate how humor may bond members through laughter about common concerns and problems, while also marking them off from others with differing concerns. As such, it ideally illustrates the micro/macro interplay of face‐to‐face relations and structural contexts.