Abstract
The current study examined sexist humor and participants’ level of sexism and femininity ideology using two research approaches: (1) a quasi-experimental design in which participants were primed with sexist humor and (2) a correlational approach using content analysis to estimate exposure to sexist humor in media. It was hypothesized that exposure to sexist humor would influence viewer’s sexist views and femininity ideology. It was also hypothesized that the quasi-experimental design would yield confirmatory results of our initial hypothesis while the correlational design would not. Participants included 1,559 male and female college students who were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions (viewed sexist humor, viewed non-sexist humor, viewed no videos) and then answered questions related to sexism and femininity ideology followed by general demographic items and media viewing preferences. Results confirmed that the quasi-experimental design, in comparison to the correlational design, yielded more confirmatory results in that those exposed to sexist humor had higher scores on all outcome measures examined. Limitations of priming and content analysis are discussed as well as directions for future research.
About the authors
Chrysalis L. Wright, Ph.D. is the Director of the Media & Migration Lab and Faculty member in the Department of Psychology at the University of Central Florida. She is also the current Secretary of Division 46 (Society for Media Psychology & Technology) of the American Psychological Association. Her research interests center around media (broadly defined) and technological influences on developmental processes and behavior. She can be reached at Chrysalis.Wright@ucf.edu.
Taylor DeFrancesco is a Research Assistant in the Media & Migration Lab and a current senior at the University of Central Florida, majoring in psychology. She is also involved in Psi Chi International Honor Society, Psychological Society, and Alpha Epsilon Phi Sorority.
Carissa Hamilton is a Research Assistant in the Media & Migration Lab and a Burnett Honors College student at the University of Central Florida, majoring in psychology.
Natasha Vashist is an alumni of the Media & Migration Lab and the University of Central Florida, with a B.S. in psychology. She is currently a Registered Behavior Technician.
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