![]() ![]() Public opinion polls over the same period have shown whites holding progressively less prejudiced views of minorities, particularly blacks. But even as society as a whole becomes increasingly accepting of them, many individuals still harbor mixed feelings.įor instance, over the past 60 years or so, the United States has seen a dramatic decline in overt and institutional racism. Some groups occupy a unique social position of what social psychologists call “shifting acceptability.” For these groups, the overall culture is changing from considering prejudice and discrimination against them completely justified to considering them completely unjustified. Social groups are vulnerable to different degrees depending on their overall status. In another study, my colleagues and I demonstrated that this prejudice-releasing effect of disparagement humor varies depending on the position in society occupied by the butt of the joke. Sexist humor signaled that it’s safe to express sexist attitudes. So, in this context of expanded acceptability, sexist men felt free to express their antagonism without the risk of violating social norms and facing disapproval from others. Sexist humor essentially stretched the rubber band it expanded the bounds of acceptable behavior to include responses that would otherwise be considered wrong or inappropriate. Everything on the inside of the rubber band is socially acceptable everything on the outside is unacceptable. How did sexist humor make the sexist men in these studies feel freer to express their sexist attitudes? Imagine that the social norms about acceptable and unacceptable ways of treating women are represented by a rubber band. Sexist humor can expand the bounds of what’s an acceptable way to treat women. However, a large and growing body of psychology research suggests just the opposite – that disparagement humor can foster discrimination against targeted groups. But delivered alongside is a second implicit message that “it doesn’t count as hostility or prejudice because I didn’t mean it - it’s just a joke.”īy disguising expressions of prejudice in a cloak of fun and frivolity, disparagement humor, like the jokes above, appears harmless and trivial. One is an explicit hostile or prejudiced message. You know it as sexist or racist jokes – basically anything that makes a punchline out of a marginalized group.ĭisparagement humor is paradoxical: It simultaneously communicates two conflicting messages. These two jokes represent disparagement humor – any attempt to amuse through the denigration of a social group or its representatives. Q: Why hasn’t NASA sent a woman to the moon? A: Who cares! What the hell is she doing out of the kitchen? ![]()
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