No Laughing Matter: Why Humor Mistakes Do More Damage to Men Than Women*

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2021.104169

Explanation

All people regularly live their lives in pursuit of both personal and professional goals.

Research has documented substantial barriers for women in the latter, especially when women make mistakes.

Role congruence theory confirms that stereotypical communality, as articulated, is at odds with the agent's purpose, which is specific to the workplace.

For the former, however, it is not clear how women are valued vis-à-vis men in the pursuit of joint objectives.

Observers have suggested that after mistakes in the interpersonal realm, men may be less successful than women.

We tested this proposition in nine preregistered experiments (N = 5400), targeting the use of humor.

The results provide evidence for a process model in which debilitated women are still more attentive and their mistakes seem less important, enhancing their downstream evaluations.

The results of this study illustrate the effects of gender, humor, and on mistakes.