Prejudice-relevant correlates of humor temperaments and humor styles

Abstract

Given the field’s interest in humor-relevant individual differences in general, we explored the extent to which humor styles and temperament are correlated with individual difference predictors of prejudice. Participants ( n = 136) completed the humor styles questionnaire, the state-trait cheerfulness inventory-(traits), and measures of social dominance orientation (SDO), right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), personal need for structure (PNS), and anti-Black prejudice. Contrary to preferences for positive humor use among participants generally (i.e., collapsing across individual differences), those higher in SDO or anti-Black prejudice reported increased use of aggressive humor. Those with prejudicial tendencies theoretically rooted in uncertainty avoidance and low openness (RWA, PNS), however, demonstrated no preference (or even some distaste) for socially-oriented humor use. Whereas SDO, RWA, and anti-Black prejudice were unrelated to possessing a “good sense of humor”, PNS was associated with a poor sense of humor. Overall, distinct and theoretically meaningful relations between the prejudice-prone variables and humor-relevant individual differences emerged, with aggressive uses of humor endorsed only by prejudiced and dominance- (vs. security-) oriented persons, contrary to preferences for affiliative and self-regulatory humor styles among people generally.