Children'S Appreciation of Humor Victimizing Different Racial-Ethnic Groups

Abstract

This study examined the early development of humor depicting victims of other racial-ethnic groups among low-income black, Mexican American, and white children and middle-income white children. Boys and girls between 3 and 6 years of age were presented with pairs of drawings differing only in the identification of the victim of a minor mishap and were asked to choose the funnier of the two. The pairs included the following comparisons: black versus white victim, black versus Mexican American victim, and white versus Mexican American victim. As hypothesized, only white children found it funnier to see a child of another racial-ethnic group victimized in humor than a child of their own group. This occurred for both low- and middle-income children. The lack of significant humor preferences among black and Mexican American children are explained in terms of their greater ambivalence regarding early positive identification with their own racial-ethnic group.