At whose expense? System justification and the appreciation of stereotypical humor targeting high- versus low-status groups

Abstract Many popular comedians tell complicated jokes that involve multiple levels of interpretation. The same joke may be perceived as criticizing or reinforcing the societal status quo, depending on perceivers’ assumptions about target punchline (e.g., whether is at expense high- low-status groups). We focused how such are experienced by listeners who psychologically prone to justifying (vs. challenging) quo. In a sample Mechanical Turk workers ( N = 179), we explored individual differences in system justification would associated with appreciation group-based (stereotypical) humor, joke. As hypothesized, high system-justifiers found targeting groups women, poor people, racial/ethnic minorities) funnier than low did. some cases, high-status (rich European Americans) These results expand upon previous demonstrations humor linked relatively stable ideological dispositions and suggest different individuals perceive complex divergent ways.