Final answer:
Studies suggest that humor in staff meetings of governmental or non-profit organizations acts as a coping mechanism, indicating a desire to expand or build on humorous remarks. This form of humor serves to release tension and create unity in potentially fraught social situations.
Step-by-step explanation:
Studies on humor in staff meetings of governmental or non-profit organizations highlight a specific characteristic as documented by researchers like sociologist and anthropologist Mary Douglas. She suggested that humor functions as a release for thoughts and actions that might threaten the social order, and it helps sap the dangerous power of certain subjects by making light of them. Therefore, it can be said that humor in such settings does not usually lead to distraction or discomfort but rather serves as a mechanism for coping with and reducing the pressure of potentially tense situations. Given this, the most likely characteristic of humor in the described environments is a desire to expand or build on humorous comments made by others. Comedy and humor play crucial roles in societal functions, serving as a form of relief and means of creating unity. They are considered necessary to human interaction, as noted by both Douglas and anthropologist George Murdock, who identified humor as a cultural universal. Moreover, political comedy shows like Last Week Tonight indicate that humor can also be informative and engage audiences in political discourse, which implies a socially positive role for humor beyond mere entertainment.