Note on Editorial Satire and Persuasion

Abstract

117 college students were either told or not told in advance the thesis of a satire ridiculing the idea that capital punishment is a deterrent to murder. Subjects were then asked whether they agreed with the statement that capital punishment is a deterrent to murder. Those not told the thesis in advance were also asked to identify which of five statements was the thesis. There may be a relationship between knowing a satire's thesis in advance and the persuasiveness of that satire. There also seems to be an association between perceiving a thesis while reading it and the satire's persuasiveness. The results tend to support those of prior studies.