I think the causation may be going the other way: it’s that men who are willing to rape are more likely to enjoy rape jokes, not that men who read rape jokes thereby become more willing to rape.
Another theory I’ve heard (although not one relevant to this particular study, except maybe in an ecological sense) is that rape jokes signal to predators that non-predatory men aren’t going to socially punish them.
Do you mean negative interpretations in general, or that particular sort of negative interpretation?
I would think ill of someone who told blonde jokes, especially if they told a bunch of them. To my mind, anyone who gives a lot of time to blonde jokes is probably making themselves less able to see intelligence in blonde women. I haven’t tested this belief, I’m just going on plausibility.
Late response: I tend to believe in causation of the sort that Oligopsony mentions, because of Altemeyer’s research on Social Dominance Orientation and the oddly named Right-Wing Authoritarian scale. Though the conclusion involves two inferences that I personally haven’t seen anyone test.
I think the causation may be going the other way: it’s that men who are willing to rape are more likely to enjoy rape jokes, not that men who read rape jokes thereby become more willing to rape.
Another theory I’ve heard (although not one relevant to this particular study, except maybe in an ecological sense) is that rape jokes signal to predators that non-predatory men aren’t going to socially punish them.
Very plausible, similar things could be said of racist jokes.
I can’t think of a negative interpretation of blonde jokes though.
Do you mean negative interpretations in general, or that particular sort of negative interpretation?
I would think ill of someone who told blonde jokes, especially if they told a bunch of them. To my mind, anyone who gives a lot of time to blonde jokes is probably making themselves less able to see intelligence in blonde women. I haven’t tested this belief, I’m just going on plausibility.
Late response: I tend to believe in causation of the sort that Oligopsony mentions, because of Altemeyer’s research on Social Dominance Orientation and the oddly named Right-Wing Authoritarian scale. Though the conclusion involves two inferences that I personally haven’t seen anyone test.