Laughter, Workplace Performance and Wellbeing

 According to Albert Bandura, ‘self-efficacy is the belief in one’s capabilities to organise and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations’. More simply, self-efficacy is your belief in your ability to succeed and manage a particular situation and it affects your performance in the workplace. It is an important topic as self-efficacy can have an impact on everything from mental wellbeing, behaviour to motivation and more. Your belief in your own ability to succeed plays a role in you think, how you act, and how you feel about your place at work and beyond. Self-efficacy determines what goals you choose to pursue, how you go about accomplishing those goals and how you reflect upon your own performance. The good news is that self-efficacy is a skill that you can improve and even in a fun way- using laughter!  

A US study looked at effects of Laughter Yoga on self-efficacy in the workplace and the results showed significant improvements. Clinical research conducted in Denmark, India and the USA has proved that laughter improves self-efficacy AND lowers the level of stress hormones. Laughter Yoga is a great workplace wellbeing initiative; Google and BBC have organised laughter sessions leaving participants feeling happier and more relaxed. Laughter is a great tool to relieve work stress and years of research has shown that prolonged laughter decreases depression, lowers blood pressure, boosts endorphins and puts positivity back into the workplace. 

What happens in a Laughter Yoga Session? The session consists of group activities to lengthen laughter, with zero yoga bendy positions and zero jokes but lots of healthy breathwork. Lengthened laughter leads to more oxygen uptake which improves efficiency, mental focus and concentration. Furthermore, laughter yoga connects you with colleagues under a non-competitive manner and improves relationships.

In summary, Laughter Yoga can improve your self-efficacy for increased performance and provide optimism to cope with challenging times.

References

• Bandura A. Self-Efficacy in Changing Societies. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press; 1995.
• Bandura A. Exercise of personal agency through the self-efficacy mechanisms. In R. Schwarzer (Ed.), Self-efficacy: Thought control of action. Washington, DC: Hemisphere: Taylor & Francis; 1992.
• Bandura A. Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review. 1977;84, 191-215.
• Bandura A. Self-efficacy. In V. S. Ramachaudran (Ed.), Encyclopedia of human behavior,4. New York: Academic Press; 1994.
• Beckman, H., Regier, N. & Young, J. J Primary Prevent (2007) 28: 167. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-007-0082-z
• Kataria M, et al "The effects of Hearty Extended Unconditional (HEU) laughter using yoga laughter techniques on physiological, psychological, and immunological parameters in the workplace: A randomized controlled trial" HRS Meeting 2008; Abstract P-129.
• Lally, Steven. "Laugh Your Stress Away." Prevention. June, 1991: 50-52.