Just kidding? Exploring the role of traditional versus counter-traditional gender role jokes on gender identity threat

Bibliographic Data

ID6428055
AuthorsIpek Guvensoy (0000-0003-0572-5134, Sabancı Üniversitesi), Büşra Kaplan (0009-0003-9438-7268, 52991 Sabanci University , İstanbul , Türkiye), Sabahat Cigdem Bagci (0000-0003-1642-2067, 52991 Sabanci University , İstanbul , Türkiye), Irem Sakarya (0009-0000-1605-2989, 52991 Sabanci University , İstanbul , Türkiye), Esra Kamacı (0009-0007-8357-3865, İstanbul University , Istanbul , Türkiye), Irem Kuyucu (0009-0003-0614-8866, 52991 Sabanci University , İstanbul , Türkiye), Duygu Yurt (0009-0005-4419-522X, 52991 Sabanci University , İstanbul , Türkiye), Selen Akay (0009-0008-4819-3653, 52991 Sabanci University , İstanbul , Türkiye), Emrah Kahraman (0000-0001-6069-4276, University of Padua , Padua , Italy)
Year2025
Volume38
Issue4
Pages541-568
Publication date2025-08-26
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueHumor - International Journal of Humor Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0933-1719 • E-ISSN: 1613-3722
PublisherDe Gruyter Mouton (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/humor-2025-0042
OpenAlexW4413655425
LanguageEN
References cited76

While traditional gender roles have been examined in the context of online communication, less is known about the implications of encountering counter-traditional gender roles (e.g., depicting men as caring and women as independent) on social media. We investigated participants’ perceived gender identity threat upon exposure to traditional versus counter-traditional gender role jokes that targeted either men or women. An online experiment ( N = 265) using a 2 (content: traditional versus counter-traditional gender roles) by 2 (joke’s target gender: men versus women) by 2 (participant’s gender: man versus woman) mixed design demonstrated that overall, jokes targeting women elicited greater identity threat and women perceived greater identity threat than men. Moreover, the three-way interactions showed that women, in particular, perceived greater identity threat from traditional gender role jokes targeting women. The current study highlights the damaging role of the spread of traditional gender roles through humor, particularly for women’s gender identities

Aesthetics · Art · Gender identity · Identity (music · Sociology · Gender Studies · Humor Studies and Applications · Media Influence and Health · Media, Gender, and Advertising · Psychology · Social Psychology

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