Study title

Explicit prejudice and discrimination is arguably less prevalent in today's society. One form of prejudice that is still acceptable is stereotype-based humour, for example, jokes about women being unintelligent are deemed 'acceptable' by society, as they are not perceived to be malicious expressions of stereotype- they are "just a joke". However, it is possible that such stereotype-based humour has detrimental effects for the social perceiver. This research will investigate the effects that such stereotype-based humour about women (eg, implying that women are less intelligent) can have on women's subsequent perceptions and behaviour: Does it make women more likely to perform better/worse on a measure of intelligence? Will women see themselves more negatively (lowered self-esteem) or in more stereotypical terms, eg, motherly, bad at parking, illogical and will women be more likely to report wanting to pursue a more typically feminine career such as nursing? Furthermore, does the extent to which the female perceiver values her identity as a woman moderate their subsequent responses? These questions will be addressed in a series of experimental studies where female perceivers will be exposed to stereotypes, stereotypical jokes or control jokes and their subsequent responses recorded.