The role of identification with women as a determinant of amusement with sexist humor
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Annie O. Kochersberger
Annie O. Kochersberger is a research analyst for the National Board of Medical Examiners. She received her Master's degree in experimental psychology at Western Carolina University in 2012.Thomas E. Ford is a Professor of Psychology at Western Carolina University. His research interests include the social consequences of disparagement humor, humor and coping with stress, the relationship between religion and prejudice, and unintentional racism and stereotype threat in educational settings.
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Julie A. Woodzicka
Julie A. Woodzicka is a Professor of Psychology at Washington and Lee University (Lexington, VA, USA). She received her Ph.D. in Social Psychology in 2000 from Boston College. Dr. Woodzicka's research interests include interpersonal consequences of and nonverbal responses to discrimination, specifically disparagement humor.Mónica Romero-Sánchez is a PhD at the School of Psychology of the University of Granada in Spain. She received her doctoral training in social psychology. Her research interests concern social perception of sexual aggression against women and sexist humor.Hugo Carretero Dios is professor of Research Methods in Psychology in the Department of Research Methods in Behavioral Sciences at Granada University (Spain). His research interests include the humor test construction/adaptation, and examining the role of humor as a social and individual difference variable.
Abstract
We conducted two studies to investigate whether the degree to which people identify with women as a social category affects amusement with sexist humor (humor that disparages women) apart from their affective dispositions toward women. Both studies supported our hypothesis showing that male and female participants were more amused by sexist humor the less they identified with -- the more they felt psychologically distant from -- women as a social category. Study 2 further demonstrated that empathy with women as a social category was not related to amusement with sexist humor.
About the authors
Annie O. Kochersberger is a research analyst for the National Board of Medical Examiners. She received her Master's degree in experimental psychology at Western Carolina University in 2012.
Thomas E. Ford is a Professor of Psychology at Western Carolina University. His research interests include the social consequences of disparagement humor, humor and coping with stress, the relationship between religion and prejudice, and unintentional racism and stereotype threat in educational settings.
Julie A. Woodzicka is a Professor of Psychology at Washington and Lee University (Lexington, VA, USA). She received her Ph.D. in Social Psychology in 2000 from Boston College. Dr. Woodzicka's research interests include interpersonal consequences of and nonverbal responses to discrimination, specifically disparagement humor.
Mónica Romero-Sánchez is a PhD at the School of Psychology of the University of Granada in Spain. She received her doctoral training in social psychology. Her research interests concern social perception of sexual aggression against women and sexist humor.
Hugo Carretero Dios is professor of Research Methods in Psychology in the Department of Research Methods in Behavioral Sciences at Granada University (Spain). His research interests include the humor test construction/adaptation, and examining the role of humor as a social and individual difference variable.
©2014 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Putting the “self” in self-deprecation: When deprecating humor about minorities is acceptable
- Humor use, reactions to social comments, and social anxiety
- The role of identification with women as a determinant of amusement with sexist humor
- Analyzing structure and function in humor: Preliminary sketch of a message-centered model
- Chilean Spanish version of the State Trait Cheerfulness Inventory (STCI-T-60, trait form): Individual and couple forms
- The effects of humor cartoons in a series of bestselling academic books
- Book Reviews
- Book Review
- Book Review
- Book Review
- Book Review
- Book Review
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Putting the “self” in self-deprecation: When deprecating humor about minorities is acceptable
- Humor use, reactions to social comments, and social anxiety
- The role of identification with women as a determinant of amusement with sexist humor
- Analyzing structure and function in humor: Preliminary sketch of a message-centered model
- Chilean Spanish version of the State Trait Cheerfulness Inventory (STCI-T-60, trait form): Individual and couple forms
- The effects of humor cartoons in a series of bestselling academic books
- Book Reviews
- Book Review
- Book Review
- Book Review
- Book Review
- Book Review
