An Intergroup Investigation of Disparaging Humor

Abstract

This article takes an intergroup approach to studying disparaging humor. Specifically, this study tests the in-group favoritism/out-group rejection tenet of social identity theory in the context of disparaging gender-based jokes. The experiment manipulated the number of jokes men and women read about their gender and the opposite gender, and then measured joke funniness, in- and out-group typicality, and collective self-esteem. The findings revealed that both men and women exhibited in-group bias by rating jokes about the opposite gender funnier and more typical than jokes about their own gender, although only the findings for women were significant. Women’s evaluations of male-targeted joke(s) were particularly affected by the number of jokes they read. Explained from a social identity theory perspective, the findings underscore how jokes contribute to intergroup division and the utility of intergroup theory in understanding the social cognitive processes of jokes.