Gender differences in humor appreciation revisited

Mundorf et al. (1988) found a complex pattern of gender differences in humor appreciation. Specifically, males enjoyed sexual humor more than females did regardless of humor-victim gender, but for hostile humor each gender enjoyed humor with an opposite-gender victim more than the other gender did. The present study was a conceptual replication of the Mundorf study with cartoons as stimuli and with an added independent variable. explicitness of the humor stimuli. The results failed to replicate the pattern reported by Mundorf et al. Instead, females liked sexual humor with male victims just as much as males did but strongly disliked both types of humor when they had female victims. High explicitness was generally preferred over low explicitness except when females rated either sexual cartoons or cartoons with female victims or when sexual cartoons had male victims. A coherent account of both studies and of previous research on this topic can be given in terms of the evolution of gender attitudes toward humor, with changes occurring primarily in females as a result of the continued influence of the women's movement.