Date of Award
8-2007
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Sociology
First Advisor
Dr. Thomas Ford
Second Advisor
Dr. David Hartmann
Third Advisor
Dr. Thomas Van Valey
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
This study was designed to contribute to the literature on sexist humor by attempting to establish identification with the humor target as a critical variable mediating the relationship between hostile sexism and women's amusement with sexist humor. Past research has shown a positive relationship between hostile sexism - antagonism towards women (Glick and Fiske, 1996) - and amusement with sexist humor (Ford, 2000; Greenwood & Isbell, 2002). It is possible, however, that this relationship is more complicated for women, who are both the recipient and target of the sexist joke. This study attempted to provide an explanation for why this relationship is more complicated for women by examining the potential mediating effect of dis-identification with the humor target. The findings suggest that hostile sexism is negatively related to the degree of identification with women in nontraditional gender roles ( e.g., feminists), and the relationship between hostile sexism and amusement is greater for jokes targeting feminists and women as a group than for jokes targeting housewives. Dis-identification with the humor target, however, was not established as a mediating variable in the relationship between hostile sexism and amusement with sexist jokes.
Recommended Citation
Edel, Jessica R., "Women and Hostile Sexism: Effect of Identification with the Humor Target on Women's Responses to Sexist Jokes" (2007). Masters Theses. 4097.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/4097