Senses of humor, media use, and opinions about the treatment of marginalized groups

This research examines public opinions toward marginalized groups, applying the notion of multiple “senses of humor” as a filter in the process of opinion formation while controlling for the relative impact of media exposure on such opinions. A sample of 288 students at a large urban university responded to an online survey measuring a variety of public opinions, media use (including traditional, news, and interactive) variables, four senses of humor (disparagement, dark/arousal, incongruity, and social currency), and social locators, including political orientation. Results confirm that, in addition to social locators, senses of humor provide a viable set of predictors of public opinion about marginalized groups, clearly surpassing media use. Further, the senses of humor are found to be linked to political orientation, raising issues of the commonalities and origins of these critical filters of sociopolitical attitudes.