In the early stages of enterprise digital transformation, employees often face occupational risks stemming from technological pressures, creating an urgent need to acquire social information to counteract this uncertainty. At this juncture, leader humor serves as an effective communication strategy that can yield positive work outcomes for employees. However, few studies have comparatively analyzed the differential effects produced by different humor styles. Based on social information processing theory, this study examines how employees interpret leader humor styles to alter their work anxiety and security levels, thereby influencing adaptive performance. It further investigates how this effect varies under different levels of technological pressure. The research employs experimental and questionnaire methods to validate these hypotheses. Study 1 utilized a (affiliative humor/ aggressive humorous) × (high technostress/low technostress) between-subjects experimental design. Participants recruited via an online survey platform were randomly assigned to four experimental conditions. Results indicate that in the high technostress × affiliative humor condition, individuals reported higher levels of job security, while in the high technostress × aggressive humor condition, individuals reported higher levels of job anxiety. Study 2 analyzed three-stage leader-member pairing questionnaire data, revealing that affiliative humor significantly positively influenced adaptive performance, while aggressive humor significantly negatively impacted adaptive performance. Job security and job anxiety mediated these effects. Under high technostress conditions, both leader humor styles exerted stronger influences on job security and job anxiety. The study revealed the paradox effect of different leader humor styles under stressful conditions.