Understanding the power of political humour: Implications for emotions, attitudes, and behaviour

了解政治幽默的力量：对情绪、态度和行为的影响

• 批准号: ES/R010242/2
• 负责人: Maria Grasso
• 金额: $ 23.9万
• 依托单位: Queen Mary University of London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FR010242%2F2
• 关键词: Understanding; power; political; humour; Implications

Political humour exposes the errors, shortcomings, and misadventures of an individual, institution, or ideology. Such humour seeks to ridicule authoritative figures and systems, and thus presents an especially powerful critique of its subject. Rapid changes in the contemporary political climate have inspired an explosion of political humour, which reaches broad cross-sections of the British public through television, news publications, and social media platforms. Political humour is thus increasingly positioned at the epicentre of contemporary political engagement-particularly among younger generations-yet little is known about its impact on citizens' emotions, attitudes, and behaviour.Political and social divisions are increasing within contemporary Western democracies, with those on each side becoming increasingly entrenched in their worldview and unwilling to compromise their ideological principles. This polarisation can be reinforced by the incendiary content and tone of political humour, thus inflaming conflicts in civil society. For instance, political humour that targets religious figures (e.g., the Prophet Muhammad or the Catholic Pope) has incited vehement protest among those who disagree.Given the broad and potentially profound reach of political humour, it is important to understand its impact on citizens. To address this gap, the proposed research examines the extent to which political humour alienates those who disagree with the communicated message while placating those who agree, and the resulting implications for individuals' level of (dis)engagement with mainstream democratic processes. In particular, we investigate the social psychological factors and processes that underpin the impact of political humour on individuals' attitudes and behaviour. The project has three objectives:1. To document the range of emotions elicited by political humour2. To investigate the impact of political humour on individuals' attitudes3. To examine the impact of political humour on individuals' behaviourThese objectives will be addressed with nine studies that examine British individuals' responses to political humour, focusing on amusement, irritation, and other emotional responses (Studies 1 to 3), political attitudes (Studies 4 to 9), and political behaviour (Studies 8 and 9). Experimental materials (e.g., political cartoons) will be drawn from real-world materials available in the public domain (e.g., social media, news outlets) or developed by political organisations (e.g., unions, local political parties).This project will have important academic and social benefits. Results will contribute to the development of scholarly frameworks of political humour and satire, as well as theory about the factors that shape political attitudes and political behaviour. Project findings will also help political and community organisations to develop more effective campaigns to educate and mobilise their members. Lastly, the results will help inform editors' decisions regarding the publication of political humour.

政治幽默揭露个人、机构或意识形态的错误、缺点和不幸。这种幽默试图嘲笑权威人物和制度，因此对它的主题提出了特别有力的批评。当代政治气候的快速变化激发了政治幽默的爆发，通过电视，新闻出版物和社交媒体平台到达英国公众的广泛领域。因此，政治幽默越来越成为当代政治活动的中心--尤其是在年轻一代中--但人们对它对公民的情感、态度和行为的影响却知之甚少。当代西方民主国家内部的政治和社会分歧正在加剧，双方的世界观越来越根深蒂固，不愿在意识形态原则上妥协。政治幽默的煽动性内容和语气可能会加剧这种两极分化，从而加剧民间社会的冲突。例如，针对宗教人物的政治幽默（例如，先知穆罕默德或天主教教皇）在持不同意见的人中煽动了激烈的抗议。鉴于政治幽默的广泛和潜在的深远影响，了解它对公民的影响是很重要的。为了解决这一差距，拟议的研究探讨在何种程度上，政治幽默疏远那些谁不同意所传达的信息，而安抚那些谁同意，以及由此产生的影响，个人的（不）参与主流民主进程的水平。特别是，我们调查的社会心理因素和过程，支持个人的态度和行为的政治幽默的影响。该项目有三个目标：1。记录政治幽默引起的情绪范围。调查政治幽默对个人态度的影响3。为了研究政治幽默对个人行为的影响，这些目标将通过九项研究来解决，这些研究考察了英国人对政治幽默的反应，重点是娱乐，刺激和其他情绪反应（研究1至3），政治态度（研究4至9）和政治行为（研究8和9）。实验材料（例如，政治漫画）将从公共领域中可获得的真实世界材料（例如，社交媒体、新闻媒体）或由政治组织开发（例如，该项目将具有重要的学术和社会效益。研究结果将有助于发展政治幽默和讽刺的学术框架，以及关于塑造政治态度和政治行为的因素的理论。项目结果还将帮助政治和社区组织开展更有效的运动，教育和动员其成员。最后，调查结果将有助于编辑对政治幽默的出版做出决定。