Men’s responses to being confronted for sexism with and without humor

Kala J. Melchiori; Robyn K. Mallett; Julie A. Woodzicka

doi:10.1515/humor-2024-0032

Article

Men’s responses to being confronted for sexism with and without humor

Kala J. Melchiori
Kala J. Melchiori, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at James Madison University. She completed her BA in Psychology at Marshall University in Huntington, WV, and her PhD in Social Psychology at Loyola University Chicago. Dr. Melchiori and the students in her lab conduct social-justic oriented research, including projects that explore how people respond to prejudice, stereotyping, and discriminatory backlash. She is also interested in exploring ways to bring social justice into the classroom.
, Robyn K. Mallett
Robyn K. Mallett, PhD, is a professor of psychology at Loyola University Chicago. She completed her B.A. at the University of Alaska Anchorage, her Ph.D. in Social Psychology at the Pennsylvania State University, and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Virginia. Dr. Mallett studies the psychology of prejudice and intergroup relations, investigating how people understand and control the world around them through individual and collective action. She has a special interest in how people identify and respond to bias.
and Julie A. Woodzicka
Julie A. Woodzicka, PhD, is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Cognitive and Behavioral Science at Washington and Lee University. She earned a B.A. in Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, a MA in Clinical Psychology at the University of Dayton, and a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Boston College, spending the last 2 years of her program in residence at Yale University. Dr. Woodzicka’s research explores the interpersonal and social consequences of sexist and racist humor, along with creative strategies to confront bias.

Published/Copyright: January 8, 2025

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From the journal HUMOR Volume 38 Issue 1

Abstract

Confronting bias can reduce prejudice and subsequent discriminatory behavior. However, people often hesitate to confront because of the perceived costs. Humorous confrontation may mitigate these costs. Using hypothetical scenarios, humorous confrontation was found to be similarly effective as serious confrontation, but with fewer social costs (Woodzicka, Julie A., Robyn K. Mallett & Kala J. Melchiori. 2020. Gender differences in using humor to respond to sexist jokes. Humor 33(2). 219–238). The present research tests whether these effects hold when confronted for expressing bias in a lab-based experiment. College-aged men were confronted for sexism by a man or woman in a serious or humorous manner. Compared to past work that used scenarios, we found that men responded in a more friendly way yet were more resistant to feedback when confronted for their actual behavior. Serious confrontations led men to use fewer stereotypes, apologize more, and lower their denial of stereotypic behavior compared to humorous confrontations or a control condition. Unlike past work using scenarios, men showed a more negative reaction to humorous confronters than serious confronters. Men confronters elicited less negative affect, especially compared to women confronters who used humor.

Keywords: humor; confrontation; sexism

Corresponding author: Kala J. Melchiori, Department of Psychology, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, 22807, USA, E-mail: melchikj@jmu.edu

About the authors

Kala J. Melchiori

Kala J. Melchiori, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at James Madison University. She completed her BA in Psychology at Marshall University in Huntington, WV, and her PhD in Social Psychology at Loyola University Chicago. Dr. Melchiori and the students in her lab conduct social-justic oriented research, including projects that explore how people respond to prejudice, stereotyping, and discriminatory backlash. She is also interested in exploring ways to bring social justice into the classroom.

Robyn K. Mallett

Robyn K. Mallett, PhD, is a professor of psychology at Loyola University Chicago. She completed her B.A. at the University of Alaska Anchorage, her Ph.D. in Social Psychology at the Pennsylvania State University, and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Virginia. Dr. Mallett studies the psychology of prejudice and intergroup relations, investigating how people understand and control the world around them through individual and collective action. She has a special interest in how people identify and respond to bias.

Julie A. Woodzicka

Julie A. Woodzicka, PhD, is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Cognitive and Behavioral Science at Washington and Lee University. She earned a B.A. in Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, a MA in Clinical Psychology at the University of Dayton, and a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Boston College, spending the last 2 years of her program in residence at Yale University. Dr. Woodzicka’s research explores the interpersonal and social consequences of sexist and racist humor, along with creative strategies to confront bias.

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Received: 2023-10-02

Accepted: 2024-10-03

Published Online: 2025-01-08

Published in Print: 2025-02-25

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2024-0032

Keywords for this article

humor; confrontation; sexism