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The enjoyment of sexist humor, rape attitudes, and relationship aggression in college students

Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, May, 1998 by Kathryn Ryan, Jeanne Kanjorski

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Lyman (1987) suggests that sexist humor may be a part of male group bonding. He found that men saw a sexist incident as erotic, whereas women saw it as hostile. Thus, "...the behavior that the women defined as aggressive was seen by the men as a contest of strength governed by the rules of joke form, to which the proper response would have been to remain 'cool'" (p. 160). Because the behavior was rule-governed, it was not considered to be aggressive by the men. Pryor, Giedd, and Williams (1995) reported research that showed that enjoying sexist magazine cartoons increased cohesiveness among a group of men high in the likelihood to sexually harass. Moreover, men who were high in the likelihood to sexually harass and who enjoyed the sexist cartoons together were likely to model each others' sexually harassing behavior when given the opportunity.

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Women are put in a double-bind regarding their proper response to sexist humor. Women usually laugh at men's jokes (Coser, 1960). However, to laugh at a sexist joke may suggest that the joke was appropriate and funny. On the other hand, not laughing may imply that the woman is defensive and lacks a sense of humor. Thus, men may use sexist humor in a non-conscious hostile manner toward women. Their tendentious jokes can send a message that cannot overtly be challenged. Moreover, they may interpret any audience reaction as support for their belief system.

The current study explored whether the enjoyment of sexist humor is associated with aggressive attitudes and behavior in college men. We also explored the relationship between sexist humor, rape-supportive attitudes, and aggression in college women. Past research has shown that some women hold sexist and rape-supportive beliefs and attitudes, although as a group women show lower Rape Myth Acceptance, Acceptance of Interpersonal Violence, and Adversarial Sexual beliefs than men (e.g., Muehlenhard & Linton, 1987; Weisz & Earls, 1995). Moreover, past research has also demonstrated that some women engage in physical and sexual aggression against their partners (e.g., Ryan, in press; Sigelman, Berry, & Wiles, 1984; Stets & Pirog-Good, 1989). A feminist analysis dictates that aggression in women be acknowledged and explored (White & Kowalski, 1994). Thus, women are included as research participants in the current study. However, because rape myth acceptance may serve different purposes in men and women (Lonsway & Fitzgerald, 1995), hypotheses about possible correlations between attitudes and behaviors were not proposed for the female participants.

HYPOTHESES

Hypothesis 1

Men will rate the sexist jokes as funnier, more acceptable, and less offensive than women; however, they will not be significantly more likely to tell the jokes.

Hypothesis 2

Men will show a positive correlation between the enjoyment of sexist humor and Rape Myth Acceptance, Acceptance of Interpersonal Violence, Adversarial Sexual Beliefs, the self-reported likelihood of forcing sex, and sexual and physical aggression against their dating partners.

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The enjoyment of sexist humor, rape attitudes, and relationship aggression in college students

Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, May, 1998 by Kathryn Ryan, Jeanne Kanjorski

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