BULLYING is a rising concern common to many Australian workplaces, and a phenomenon not even the nation’s leaders can avoid.

But though the reasons behind bullying lie within the bully and their own shortcomings, their victims are often the ones left feeling powerless.

While the last thing victims may feel like doing in the situation is having a laugh, new research by the Australian National University has revealed humour may be the best path forward for organisations with bullies in their ranks.

Participants in the ANU College of Business and Economics study were exposed to simulations of a colleague aggressively shouting at them, followed by either a humorous video or one with neutral content.

Lead researcher Dr David Cheng said the group exposed to humorous content had better outcomes than the controls.

“While obviously the best solution to workplace aggression is to stamp out the poor behaviour, our research shows if something stressful does happen to you at work, a bit of laughter can help,” Dr Cheng said.

“Humour helps reduce some of the damage caused to a victim’s psychological wellbeing by bolstering their sense of power.

“They felt more powerful, and that people would be more likely to listen to them.”

While laughter can lift the spirits of the bullied and defuse a stressful situation, injecting humour in the workplace can also prove financially beneficial to organisations.

A related ANU study from three years earlier found those exposed to humorous stimuli voluntarily doubled the length of time they were prepared to work on boring, repetitive work while maintaining the same level of accuracy and performance.

The results of the research have been published in a paper titled Laughter Is (Powerful) Medicine: the Effects of Humour Exposure on the Well-being of Victims of Aggression in the Journal of Business and Psychology.