‘Funny’ Politics: Stand-up Political Comedy, Public Engagement, Critical Thinking, and Opinion Sharing in India

Abstract

This study hypothesised that (a) exposure to online comedy about political issues promotes public engagement, critical thinking, and opinion sharing; (b) the relationship between exposure to online comedy and the dependent variables is mediated by self-perception of critical thinking on religious freedom (as an example of social justice issues); and (c) the relationship between online comedy and dependent variables (perception of public engagement and opinion leadership) is moderated by individuals’ self-reported political leaning. A post-test-only between-subject experimental design with a control group was conducted using a sample drawn from an online panel ( N = 576). The treatment group was shown a video of political stand-up comedy and asked about their perceptions of public engagement, critical thinking, and opinion sharing. The control group did not view any videos before answering the questionnaire. It was observed that viewing online political comedy is associated with lower self-reported public engagement and opinion leadership on digital platforms. The results of this study in a non-Western developing country context indicate a positive relationship between exposure to online political comedy and public engagement, critical thinking, and opinion sharing.