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

政治幽默揭露个人、制度或意识形态的错误、缺点和不幸。这种幽默试图嘲笑权威人物和制度，因此对其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，这些幽默通过电视、新闻出版物和社交媒体平台传播到英国公众的各个领域。因此，政治幽默日益成为当代政治参与的中心，尤其是在年轻一代中，但人们对其对公民情绪、态度和行为的影响知之甚少。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，从而引发民间社会的冲突。例如，针对宗教人物（如先知穆罕默德或天主教教皇）的政治幽默在持不同意见的人中引发了激烈的抗议。考虑到政治幽默的广泛和潜在的深远影响，理解它对公民的影响是很重要的。为了解决这一差距，拟议的研究考察了政治幽默在多大程度上疏远了那些不同意传播信息的人，同时安抚了那些同意的人，以及由此产生的对个人与主流民主进程的（不）参与程度的影响。特别是，我们调查了支持政治幽默对个人态度和行为影响的社会心理因素和过程。该项目有三个目标：1。记录政治幽默所引发的各种情绪。调查政治幽默对个人态度的影响。为了研究政治幽默对个人行为的影响，这些目标将通过9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（例如，社交媒体，新闻媒体）或政治组织（例如，工会，地方政党）开发的现实世界材料中提取。该项目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因素的理论。项目结果还将有助于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决定是否出版政治幽默。

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.