Not all groups are equal : differential vulnerability of social groups to the prejudice-releasing effects of disparaging humor
- WCU Author/Contributor (non-WCU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Shane Rydell Triplett (Creator)
- Institution
- Western Carolina University (WCU )
- Web Site: http://library.wcu.edu/
- Advisor
- Thomas Ford
Abstract: Research has shown that sexist humor allows men to express sexism by replacing nonsexist
norms in a situation with a norm of tolerance of sex discrimination (Ford,
Armstrong, & Edel, 2008). Our study extends those findings by testing the hypothesis
that disparaging humor fosters the "release" of prejudice against only groups for whom
society’s attitudes are ambivalent and thus for whom the expression of prejudice is
dependent on immediate social norms to justify it (e.g., women, homosexuals). The
expression of prejudice against groups like racists is socially acceptable and should not
be dependent on events like disparaging humor to justify it. Consequently, disparaging
humor should have little effect on the release of prejudice against them.
One hundred sixty four participants completed measures of prejudice against
homosexuals and racists (Cotrell & Neuberg, 2005). Participants read four jokes that
disparaged homosexuals, or racists, or that contained no disparaging content. Next,
participants allocated budget cuts to four student organizations including one that either
supported racist or homosexual agendas. Results supported our hypothesis. Prejudice against homosexuals predicted the amount
of money participants cut from the homosexual organization relative to the others upon
exposure to anti-homosexual jokes (ß = .61, p < .001) but not neutral jokes (ß = .10, ns)
or anti-racist jokes (ß = .13, ns). In contrast, attitudes toward racists did not differentially
predict budget cuts allocated to the racist organization upon exposure to anti-racist jokes
(ß = .30, ns), neutral jokes (ß = .12, ns) or anti-homosexual jokes (ß = .12, ns).
Not all groups are equal : differential vulnerability of social groups to the prejudice-releasing effects of disparaging humor
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Created on 3/1/2011
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Thesis
- Language: English
- Date: 2011
- Keywords
- Attitudes, Discrimination, Homosexuals, Humor, Prejudice, Stigma
- Subjects
- Wit and humor -- Psychological aspects
- Sexism
- Sexism in language