(MARK A. FERGUSON and THOMAS E. FORD)

1. “Disparagement Humour: A theoretical and empirical review of psychoanalytic, superiority, and social identity theories” (MARK A. FERGUSON and THOMAS E. FORD) Valentina Armani Roberto Lorenzini

2. Disparagement Humour Disparagement humour refers to remarks that (are intended to) elicit amusement through the denigration, derogation, or belittlement of a given target.

3. Whyisdisparagementhumorfunny? Three theoretical frameworks: • Psychoanalytic theory • Superiority theory • Social Identity theory

4. Psychoanalytic theory “Hostile humour facilitates the satisfaction of a hostile instinct [...] expressing and satisfying unconscious, socially unacceptable impulses. (Freud) Catharsis Theory (Freud) Repressed Hostility (Epstein + Smith) By providing a release of hostile impulses, disparagement humour serves as a means of catharsis – a temporary cleansing or reduction of hostile psychic energy The amusement or pleasure one derives from disparagement humour results from the catharsis it produces Amusement with hostile humour is positively related to one’s level of hostility Humour is thought to be a vehicle for releasing repressed, not conscious, hostile impulses

5. Testing Catharsis theory #1 Singer (1968) African-American participants Induced aggressivity (hate crimes, abuses) Step 1 Exposure to hostile, neutral humour Step 2 Reduced aggression motivation Results

6. Testing Catharsis theory #2 Berkowitz (1970) Angered female students Non-angered female students Evaluation of a female job-applicant Hostile humour Non-hostile humour More negative overall evaluation More positive overall evaluation

7. Superiority theories When we find humour in something, we laugh at the misfortune, stupidity, clumsiness, moral or cultural defect, suddenly revealed in someone else, to whome we instantly and momentarily feel “superior” since we are not, at that moment, unfortunate, stupid, clumsy, morally or culturally defective and so on. (Gruner)

8. Superiority theories • Affiliation: reference group models • Vicarious superiority theory: IC model • Disposition theory: attitudinal model

9. Affiliation and Reference Group models Hypothesis: people should be more amused upon witnessing disparagement of unaffiliated targets (members of a social out-group) then of affiliated targets (members of an in-group) “Affiliated objects are those objects towards which a subject adopts the same attitude as he does towards himself” (Wolff)

10. TestingAffiliationmodel #1 Wolff (1934) Gentiles Jews Anti-Jewishjokes Anti-Scottishjokes

11. Testing Affiliation model #2 Middleton (1959) Anti African-Americans jokes Whites Middle-class African Americans Low-class African Americans

12. Vicarious superiority theory: the IC model An IC (Identification Class) is defined in terms of both affiliation (group membership) and attitude toward a class or category of persons. The more positive attitudetowards IC a, and the more negative attitudetowards IC b Joke IC a > IC b The more negative attitudetowards IC a, and the more positive towards IC b

13. TestingVicarious IC model La Fave (1973) American college students – pro Americans Canadians college students – pro Canadians JokesdisparagingCanadians JokesdisparagingAmericans

14. Disposition theory: an attitudinal model “We have dismissed the dichotomization of affiliation, groups, or classes, and instead employed a conceptual continuum of affective disposition ranging from extreme negative affect through a neutral point of indifference to extreme positive affect.” (Zillmann and Cantor) Hypothesis: humour appreciation varies inversely with the favourableness of the disposition toward the agent or entity being disparaged, and varies directly with the favourableness of the disposition toward the agent or entity disparaging it.

15. Testing Disposition Theory Zillmann and Cantor (1972) Cartoons depicting superior disparaging subordinate (e.g. professors – students) Cartoons depicting subordinate disparaging superior (e.g. students - professors) Participants who typically occupy a superior position in social relationships. Participants who typically occupy a subordinate position in social relationships

16. Social Identitytheory Emphasy on relationshipsbetween social groups Social groupsviewedascompetingfor social recognition Social recognition = positive distinctiveness Positive distinctivenessreachedalsothroughdisparagement humour

17. Social Identity theory Social Identity Personal Identity The term social identity refers to that part of an individual self concept deriving from perceived membership in social group Derives from perceptions of unique attributes in comparison to members of one’s own social group One can think of personal and social identity as two poles on a continuum of self categorisation

18. Social Identity theory Social identity Personal identity Becomes salient in intergroup settings where individuals categorise themselves and others according to salient social group membership Becomes salient in interpersonal settings where individuals focus on their differences from other individuals, without explicit regard for group membership

19. Amusementthroughdisparagement humour Ethnicjokes Enhanche positive distinctiveness Threaten Social identity Personal identity Social identity Personal identity

20. Reinterpretation of Affiliation model by Social Identity theorists Anti African-Americans jokes Whites Middle-class African Americans Low-class African Americans

21. Conclusions Each theory proposes a simple mediational structure, in which the effects of disparagement humour on amusement are mediated by a psychological variable: catharsis, self-esteem, or positive distinctiveness. There is little research designed to measure mediating variables directly.

22. Conclusions The consequences of disparagement humour on social judgement and behaviour: insidious effects Communicating cultural knowledge of stereotypes Contributing to an outlet for subtle expression of prejudice Facilitating hostile and discriminatory environments for others