Amusement
Fun is an ineffective core value.
Before you think this is the Fun Police charging in to ruin the good stuff, consider this.
Fun is ambiguous, subjective, and requires extensive context and explanation before it is useful.
The intention behind fun is great; the application of it as a value, less so.
When considering fun, amusement is the underlying emotional outcome which gets overlooked.
Amusement results from the occurrence of a non-serious social incongruity.
Leave it to science to create an amusing definition of a phenomena.
Definition aside, the result of amusement is important.
Amusement is the mutual experience of something which is in some capacity unexpected and brings levity.
Amusement is a deeply social emotion.
A state of amusement increases capacity for insight.
It also is highly correlated with generating friendship and meaningful connection.
Perhaps the most valuable attribute of amusement is unconscious.
Amusement creates a mutual appreciation of, and shared laughter around, an event.
Shared laughter decreases the effect and impact of unconscious bias more than any other action.
When organizations claim to value fun, they really are advocating for amusement.
Shared laughter (key word: shared) is the foundation for the benefits of amusement as a positive emotion.
If you want to be more insightful and open-minded, bring more amusement into your interactions.
To fill more cups of coffee is an act of amusement,
-Morning Cup
Interest sparked around the 10 positive emotions?
This is week 8 of a dive into each; start from the beginning here.