Humor as an Attributional Index.

The present study examined the circumstances under which observers make attributional judgments about an actor on the basis of his humor. Subjects read a description of a group disucssion in which a nan told an anti-wonen's liberation Joke to a group of women. The variables nanipulated were the audience's anticipated reaction (approval or disapproval) and the audience's actual reaction (approval or disapproval). The resluts indicated that the actor was seen as least chauvinistic when disapnroval was anticipated but approval was received. The actor was seen as most chauvinistic when disanproval was both anticipated and received. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]