Put-Down Humor Directed at Outgroup Members Increases Perceived – but Not Experienced – Cohesion in Groups
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Christine Gockel
Christine Gockel is Professor of Business Psychology at SRH University of Applied Sciences Berlin. Prior to that, she held post-doctoral positions at Chemnitz University of Technology and the University of Fribourg, after receiving her Ph.D. in 2007 at Michigan State University. In her research, she focuses on transactive memory systems, shared leadership, and humor in teams.
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Norbert L. Kerr
Norbert L. Kerr is Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Kent and Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Michigan State University. His research interests focus on group performance, social dilemmas, and psychology and the law.
Abstract
Put-down humor always has a target, and the intent of the speaker is to make fun of someone or something. Due to its inherently social nature, put-down humor could strongly affect socio-emotional group processes and outcomes like cohesion. We hypothesized that put-down humor would increase cohesion when it was targeted at outgroup members and was followed by laughter. Two laboratory experiments were conducted to examine the underlying processes of the put-down humor – cohesion relation. Study 1 showed that put-down humor of outgroup members (as compared to no humor) did not increase participants’ attraction to the group. But it increased perceived cohesion among other group members and the perception that other group members felt safer and were more similar to each other. Even when procedures were altered in Study 2 to reduce participants’ evaluation apprehension and their potential anxiety about not themselves being humorous, we found the same pattern of results. We discuss which conditions might be necessary for put-down humor to increase one’s personal attraction to a group.
About the authors
Christine Gockel is Professor of Business Psychology at SRH University of Applied Sciences Berlin. Prior to that, she held post-doctoral positions at Chemnitz University of Technology and the University of Fribourg, after receiving her Ph.D. in 2007 at Michigan State University. In her research, she focuses on transactive memory systems, shared leadership, and humor in teams.
Norbert L. Kerr is Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Kent and Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Michigan State University. His research interests focus on group performance, social dilemmas, and psychology and the law.
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©2015 by De Gruyter Mouton
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- The social consequences of disparagement humor: Introduction and overview
- Disparagement humor and prejudice: Contemporary theory and research
- Sexist humor and social identity: the role of sexist humor in men’s in-group cohesion, sexual harassment, rape proclivity, and victim blame
- Put-Down Humor Directed at Outgroup Members Increases Perceived – but Not Experienced – Cohesion in Groups
- Hung out to dry: use and consequences of disparagement humor on American Idol
- Sexist humor as a trigger of state self-objectification in women
- Humor as an abrasive or a lubricant in social situations: Martineau revisited
- It’s just a (sexist) joke: comparing reactions to sexist versus racist communications
- Gender disparaging jokes: An investigation of sexist-nonstereotypical jokes on funniness, typicality, and the moderating role of ingroup identification
- The rhetoric of disparagement humor: An analysis of anti-semitic joking online
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- The social consequences of disparagement humor: Introduction and overview
- Disparagement humor and prejudice: Contemporary theory and research
- Sexist humor and social identity: the role of sexist humor in men’s in-group cohesion, sexual harassment, rape proclivity, and victim blame
- Put-Down Humor Directed at Outgroup Members Increases Perceived – but Not Experienced – Cohesion in Groups
- Hung out to dry: use and consequences of disparagement humor on American Idol
- Sexist humor as a trigger of state self-objectification in women
- Humor as an abrasive or a lubricant in social situations: Martineau revisited
- It’s just a (sexist) joke: comparing reactions to sexist versus racist communications
- Gender disparaging jokes: An investigation of sexist-nonstereotypical jokes on funniness, typicality, and the moderating role of ingroup identification
- The rhetoric of disparagement humor: An analysis of anti-semitic joking online
