DeMOCKracy Now: The Effect of Political Comedy on Knowledge and Ideological Constraint, A Model of Humor-Triggered Cognition

The importance of comedy as a mode of political communication is widely recognized, and the correlation between exposure to political comedy and knowledge has been well documented. Still, empirical research has produced decidedly mixed conclusions about whether, how and for whom political comedy might promote learning and influence attitudes. This dissertation incorporates socio-psychological theories of humor into a model of humor-triggered cognition which produces theoretically derived expectations about the effect of comedy on political sophistication. Political comedy is not merely an alternative news source but a unique communicative form which, by encouraging effortful processing and cognitive engagement, enhances learning and attitude constraint. Further, the strongest effects are predicted not among apathetic citizens incidentally exposed to information, but among moderately sophisticated audiences capable of comprehending and appreciating humorous messages but generally unmotivated to think deeply about politics absent the potential emotional gratification of amusement.;These expectations are empirically tested using both experimental and survey methodologies. A controlled experiment isolates the effect of comedy from the influence of exposure to information by manipulating the presence of humor in political news stories but otherwise holding content constant. Consistent with the model of humor-triggered cognition, experimental results demonstrate that political comedy promotes learning and ideological constraint beyond exposure to identical information in hard news form, and its relative influence is greatest among those with moderate prior political knowledge. Learning is mediated by the experience of amusement, not perceptions that the (identical) information is more interesting. Secondary survey data are used to replicate experimental analysis and examine the relationship between real-world exposure to political comedy and the structure of political attitudes. Self-reported exposure to political comedy is strongly correlated with several alternative measures of ideological constraint, suggesting that experimental findings are generalizable.;Overall, results indicate that effects of political media depend on the way information is presented. Political comedy enhances sophistication by not only providing important political information but also by arousing and engaging audiences so that they think more deeply about politics, become more ideologically consistent, and are potentially more capable of effective democratic citizenship.