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Atlantic Journal of Communication Volume 19, 2011 - Issue 5
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Original Articles

Political Humor as Democratic Relief? The Effects of Exposure to Comedy and Straight News on Trust and Efficacy

Amy B. Becker Department of Mass Communication & Communication Studies, Towson University
Pages 235-250 | Published online: 29 Nov 2011

Citations (43)

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Read on this site (17)

Eliana DuBosar & Myiah J. Hutchens. (2023) Looking beyond the punchline: the effect of political entertainment on evaluations of political candidates. Atlantic Journal of Communication 0:0, pages 1-14.
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Chris Skurka, Cassandra Troy, Zheng Cui & Homero Gil de Zúñiga. (2023) Efficacy constructs in media use and effects: organizing and appraising the literature. Annals of the International Communication Association 47:1, pages 114-149.
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Alexandra Martinez & Yannick Atouba. (2021) Political Satire TV Shows in the Trump’s Era: Examining Their Impact on Latinx Viewers’ Political Knowledge, Political Engagement, and Trust in Institutions. Southern Communication Journal 86:5, pages 460-471.
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Amy B. Becker. (2020) Applying mass communication frameworks to study humor's impact: advancing the study of political satire. Annals of the International Communication Association 44:3, pages 273-288.
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Mark Boukes. (2019) Agenda-Setting With Satire: How Political Satire Increased TTIP’s Saliency on the Public, Media, and Political Agenda. Political Communication 36:3, pages 426-451.
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Freddie J. Jennings, Josh C. Bramlett & Benjamin R. Warner. (2019) Comedic Cognition: The Impact of Elaboration on Political Comedy Effects. Western Journal of Communication 83:3, pages 365-382.
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Amy B. Becker & Leticia Bode. (2018) Satire as a source for learning? The differential impact of news versus satire exposure on net neutrality knowledge gain. Information, Communication & Society 21:4, pages 612-625.
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Emily Sydnor & Danielle Psimas. (2017) Easing Political Digestion: The Effects of News Curation on Citizens’ Behavior. Journal of Information Technology & Politics 14:3, pages 189-213.
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Paul R. Brewer & Jessica McKnight. (2017) “A Statistically Representative Climate Change Debate”: Satirical Television News, Scientific Consensus, and Public Perceptions of Global Warming. Atlantic Journal of Communication 25:3, pages 166-180.
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Amy B. Becker & Andrew B. Goldberg. (2017) Entertainment, Intelligent, or Hybrid Programming? An Automated Content Analysis of 12 Years of Political Satire Interviews. Atlantic Journal of Communication 25:2, pages 127-137.
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Barbara K. Kaye & Thomas J. Johnson. (2016) Restoring sanity through comic relief: Parody television viewers and political outlook. Atlantic Journal of Communication 24:3, pages 131-143.
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Jason T. Peifer. (2016) Parody Humor's Process of Influence: The Roles of Sympathy and Enjoyment in Shaping Political Perceptions. Mass Communication and Society 19:2, pages 173-196.
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Don J. Waisanen & Amy B. Becker. (2015) The Problem with Being Joe Biden: Political Comedy and Circulating Personae. Critical Studies in Media Communication 32:4, pages 256-271.
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AmyB. Becker. (2014) Playing With Politics: Online Political Parody, Affinity for Political Humor, Anxiety Reduction, and Implications for Political Efficacy. Mass Communication and Society 17:3, pages 424-445.
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Hoon Lee & Nojin Kwak. (2014) The Affect Effect of Political Satire: Sarcastic Humor, Negative Emotions, and Political Participation. Mass Communication and Society 17:3, pages 307-328.
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AMYB. BECKER & BETHA. HALLER. (2014) When Political Comedy Turns Personal: Humor Types, Audience Evaluations, and Attitudes. Howard Journal of Communications 25:1, pages 34-55.
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Amy B. Becker. (2012) Comedy Types and Political Campaigns: The Differential Influence of Other-Directed Hostile Humor and Self-Ridicule on Candidate Evaluations. Mass Communication and Society 15:6, pages 791-812.
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Articles from other publishers (26)

Maksim Godovykh, Xiaoxiao Fu & Xi Yu Leung. (2023) Humor on Destination Websites: Effects of Humor on Attitudes and Visit Intentions. Tourism Analysis 28:3, pages 371-386.
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Kenneth W. Moffett & Laurie L. Rice. (2023) TikTok and Civic Activity Among Young Adults. Social Science Computer Review.
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Emmanuel Choquette. (2022) C'est juste une blague ! Vraiment ? Quand l'humour et la religion alimentent les stéréotypes. Canadian Journal of Political Science 55:3, pages 619-644.
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Adeyemi Adegoju. (2022) Semiotics of humor in Nigerian politics. Semiotica 2022:247, pages 255-282.
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Amy B. Becker. (2022) Let's talk about the Israel–Palestine conflict: Does exposure to political comedy about the Middle East influence policy attitudes?. Social Science Quarterly 103:3, pages 724-736.
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Peter Robinson & Zoe Turner. (2022) Stand Up and Be Counted: Exploring The Role of Comedy in Society. Event Management 26:3, pages 685-695.
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Jacob A Long, Min Seon Jeong & Simon M Lavis. (2021) Political Comedy as a Gateway to News Use, Internal Efficacy, and Participation: A Longitudinal Mediation Analysis. Human Communication Research 47:2, pages 166-191.
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Nicoleta Corbu, Alina Bârgăoanu, Raluca Buturoiu & Oana Ștefăniță. (2020) Does fake news lead to more engaging effects on social media? Evidence from Romania. Communications 45:s1, pages 694-717.
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Jia Lu, Li Qi & Xin Yu. (2019) Political trust in the internet context: A comparative study in 36 countries. Government Information Quarterly 36:4, pages 101386.
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Matthew D Atkinson & Darin DeWitt. (2018) Does Celebrity Issue Advocacy Mobilize Issue Publics?. Political Studies 67:1, pages 83-99.
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Leticia Bode & Amy B. Becker. (2018) Go Fix It: Comedy as an Agent of Political Activation*. Social Science Quarterly 99:5, pages 1572-1584.
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Jody C Baumgartner & Brad Lockerbie. (2018) Maybe it Is More Than a Joke: Satire, Mobilization, and Political Participation* . Social Science Quarterly 99:3, pages 1060-1074.
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Meredith Y. Wang & David E. Silva. (2018) A slap or a jab: An experiment on viewing uncivil political discussions on facebook. Computers in Human Behavior 81, pages 73-83.
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Lydia L. Moland. 2018. All Too Human. All Too Human 1 13 .
Andrés Mendiburo-Seguel, Salvador Vargas & Andrés Rubio. (2017) Exposure to Political Disparagement Humor and Its Impact on Trust in Politicians: How Long Does It Last?. Frontiers in Psychology 8.
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Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick & Simon M. Lavis. (2017) Selecting Serious or Satirical, Supporting or Stirring News? Selective Exposure to Partisan versus Mockery News Online Videos. Journal of Communication 67:1, pages 54-81.
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Amy B. Becker & Don J. Waisanen. (2017) Laughing or learning with the Chief Executive? The impact of exposure to presidents’ jokes on message elaboration. HUMOR 30:1.
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Hoon Lee & S. Mo Jang. (2016) Talking About What Provokes Us. American Politics Research 45:1, pages 128-154.
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Andreas Dörner & Ludgera Vogt. 2017. Wahlkampf mit Humor und Komik. Wahlkampf mit Humor und Komik 63 79 .
Regina G. Lawrence & Amber E. Boydstun. 2017. How Political Actors Use the Media. How Political Actors Use the Media 39 61 .
Alison O’Connor. 2017. Satire and Politics. Satire and Politics 193 225 .
Joan L. Conners. (2013) “Binders of Bayonets for Big Bird”. American Behavioral Scientist 58:9, pages 1144-1156.
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Amy B. Becker. (2014) Humiliate My Enemies or Mock My Friends? Applying Disposition Theory of Humor to the Study of Political Parody Appreciation and Attitudes Toward Candidates. Human Communication Research 40:2, pages 137-160.
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A. B. Becker. (2013) What About Those Interviews? The Impact of Exposure to Political Comedy and Cable News on Factual Recall and Anticipated Political Expression. International Journal of Public Opinion Research 25:3, pages 344-356.
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Judith Yaross Lee. (2013) The Year's Work in American Humor Studies, 2011. Studies in American Humor 27, pages 139-188.
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Andreas Dörner. 2013. Politische Kommunikation in der repräsentativen Demokratie der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Politische Kommunikation in der repräsentativen Demokratie der Bundesrepublik Deutschland 165 189 .

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