Date of Award

4-2006

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Sociology

First Advisor

Dr. Thomas Ford

Second Advisor

Dr. Rachel Whaley

Third Advisor

Dr. Paul Wienir

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Open Access

Abstract

Research has shown that exposure to sexist humor increases tolerance of sexist events, particularly for people high in hostile sexism-antagonism toward women (Glick & Fiske, 1996). The present experiment extends those findings by examining the effects of exposure to sexist humor on anticipated behavior. Two studies were designed to examine the behavioral consequences of exposure to sexist humor. In Study 1, participants were exposed to either sexist jokes, sexist statements, or neutral jokes, and then asked to donate money to either a women's organization or a men's organization. In Study 2, participants were exposed to either sexist jokes or neutral jokes, and then asked to donate money to either a women's shelter (group donation target condition) or an individual woman from the shelter (individual donation target condition). Supporting my hypotheses from Study 1, regression analyses revealed a stronger negative relationship between hostile sexism and amount donated to a women's organization in the sexist joke condition, relative to the neutral joke or sexist statement conditions. The relationship between hostile sexism and amount donated to a men's organization was not significant. Supporting my hypothesis from Study 2, regression analyses revealed a stronger negative relationship between hostile sexism and amount willing to donate to a women's shelter, relative to an individual woman. These results suggest that exposure to sexist humor serves as a "releaser" of sexist behavior for those high in hostile sexism.

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