‘Humourbragging’ helps candidates rise to the top

If you're applying for a new job, highlighting your accomplishments is a must. Doing so without coming across as arrogant or boastful, however, can be a challenge all of its own.

Using self-deprecating humour or another strategy to downplay your achievements might seem like a good idea. However, previous research has shown us that this can backfire — while it might make you seem more likeable, it could also give the impression that you're less competent than you really are. In an interview type situation, striking the perfect balance between serious, competent, capable, and likeable has often been regarded as an impossible feat.

Now, though, a new paper in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin describes a method for conveying both competence and likability. This research, led by Jieun Pai at Imperial College, London, suggests that 'humorous bragging' can help job applicants and entrepreneurs rise to the top of the pile. 

In the first of a series of studies, the team created two CVs and submitted them to 345 companies in the US state of Virginia. These companies had all used a popular job search platform to advertise jobs for sales representatives. 

The researchers made sure that the two CVs that they sent to the same companies for the same roles featured comparable levels of education, experience, and technical skills. However, while both of the CVs included self-promoting detail in a section on Career Objectives, one also used self-enhancing humour — which the team calls 'humourbragging'. The humour-bragging version read: 

'I am a driven sales representative who is detail-oriented and passionate about serving your company's goals. I have a proven track record of turning caffeine input into productivity output. The more coffee you can provide, the more output I will produce.' 

The team found that this applicant received about one and a half times more contacts (such as emails or calls) from recruiters at these companies, and was contacted by a total of 156 companies, compared with 125 for the applicant that had not used humourbragging, just straightforward self-promotion. 

In a subsequent study, the team explored why humourbragging might have helped. A total of 127 students read one of two interviews supposedly conducted with applicants for a job as a pastry chef. One featured humour bragging, while the other didn't. The participants rated the applicants for warmth (being friendly and easy going, for example) and competence (capable, intelligent, and so on). The results showed that the humourbragging candidate was seen as being both warmer and more competent than the other. What's more, the participants reported being keener to hire them.

Was humorous bragging really key, though, or could any type of humour have this effect? 
The team explored this in further studies. In one, they analysed 154 pitches by aspiring entrepreneurs in on the US TV show Shark Tank, which is very similar to the UK's Dragon Den. They found that pitches that featured humourbragging were more successful, but other types of humour didn't affect success. As the team notes, one strength of this study is that it considered a range of real-world investments across a broad span of industries.

In yet more studies, the team further explored the potential impact of different types of humour, this time in relation to applications for the job of pastry chef. Participants in these studies reported being more likely to hire a humourbragging applicant ('I am as resilient as my dough - the harder I'm brought down, the higher I rise') than one who used an ingratiating type of humour ('I just met your baby daughter in the waiting room and I am sure her sweetness will inspire new pastry menus') or sarcasm directed at other candidates ('unlike their rock-hard pastries, I will always rise to the challenge'). The humourbragger also had the edge over a self-deprecator ('All I have been doing at home is loaf around and I knead more dough'); however, this particular difference was only marginal. 

There are some limitations to this research, a notable one being that people from different cultures may not respond to humourbragging in the same way. Overall, though, the research certainly suggests that in situations in which we are being evaluated and need to self-promote, it's worth trying. 

Read the paper in full: https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672231214462