Graduation Year

2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.A.

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Degree Granting Department

Psychology

Major Professor

Joseph Vandello, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Jennifer Bosson, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Kemesha Gabbidon, Ph.D.

Abstract

Confronting sexism is important but can be difficult because of the social backlash that is associated with it. However, many individuals have begun to call out sexism online. For example, the social media platform TikTok is an increasingly popular space for women to confront misogyny. In one current trend, creators target individuals who create sexist content by using sarcasm to humorously mock their original video. In this study, I examined the effectiveness of this trend in persuading observers and how the use of sarcastic and mocking humor influences perceptions of a woman confronting sexism. 492 participants were randomly assigned to watch a TikTok video of a woman confronting a sexist man in either a more sarcastic or less sarcastic way. The results regarding perceptions of the confronter suggest that individuals’ beliefs and gender influence their perceptions of this type of humor as well as a woman who uses this type of humor to confront sexism. Women, individuals who believe women are still the primary target of sexism, and individuals high in issue involvement are more likely to find humor that is sarcastic and mocks a male target funny. Further women are more likely than men to have positive reactions to a woman who confronts sexism as well as evaluate her response positively. However, the videos had little effect on persuasion regardless of whether sarcasm was used or not. Exploratory analyses showed that issue involvement, belief in sexism shift, and gender may play an important role in both perceptions of the humorousness of the confronter and thus perceptions of her likeability and credibility.

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