Disparagement humor permits unsafe COVID‐19 behaviors: A prejudiced norm perspective

Abstract

AbstractExtending prejudiced norm theory, we hypothesized that memes diminishing the severity of the COVID‐19 pandemic promote tolerance of unsafe pandemic behaviors (as in contrary to contemporary advice of public health agencies, i.e., not wearing a protective mask) by establishing a perceived norm of tolerance for such behaviors. In Spring 2021, members of several Reddit communities (n = 106) reported their perceived threat of COVID‐19 and then completed a roleplay exercise in which they imagined they were with a group of friends in a church setting. In this context, participants viewed memes shared among their friends that belittled COVID‐19 (COVID‐19 disparagement condition) or memes unrelated to COVID‐19 (control condition). Then, participants responded to a vignette describing a woman confronting an usher about a couple who violated protocol by not wearing masks. The results supported our hypothesis. First, participants in the COVID‐19 disparagement condition perceived a greater norm of tolerance of the mask protocol violation among others in the immediate context compared to those in the control condition. Second, for participants who viewed COVID‐19 as a low threat, that local norm resulted in greater personal tolerance of the mask protocol violation. However, for participants who view COVID‐19 as a high threat, the local norm had no impact on their personal tolerance.