Key dimensions of stereotypes in ethnic and nationality jokes

Abstract

Ethnic jokes represent a widespread phenomenon in everyday life of different nations. Categorising people, even in the form of ethnic jokes, serves various functions, from the simplification of everyday interaction to positive evaluation of one?s own group through negative evaluation of others. The aim of this study is to determine the most frequent stereotypes present in ethnic and/or nationality jokes. The initial sample was drawn via the Internet, and after establishing stratification quotas, 1000 ethnic jokes were selected as a random sample (twenty nations and/or ethnic groups). The method of conceptual content analysis was employed to analyze the data. The results indicate that the common dimensions of stereotypes, regardless of the nation in question, are as follows: 1) intelligence and knowledge; 2) physical appearance and hygiene; 3) sexuality; 4) forbidden behavior and morality. The remaining categories most frequently present in the sample, detailing relation to money and material goods, psychological dysfunctioning and harmful habits/addictions, relation to work, agreeableness, and cowardice, not being proportionally present in the majority of nations, actually represent typical stereotypes of particular nations. The results thereby suggest that the central pivot of ethnic jokes constitute universal characteristics which relate to wider aspects of human functioning, but also the most sensitive aspects of an individual (mental abilities, sexual orientation, tidiness, consumption of harmful substances); in other words, those aspects which make an individual most vulnerable.