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Previous research has pointed out that feminist humor or subversive humor against sexism is an important precursor to collective action for gender equality. This effect has been found contrasting subversive humor with neutral humor, however, to date, no study has explored the impact of the message format. Thus, we conducted two experiments to analyze the effect of exposure to a subversive humorous vignette against sexism (vs. subversive serious information against sexism and neutral humorous vignette) on involvement in collective action for gender equality, considering participants' feminist identification. In Study 1 (n = 135 men and n = 198 women), participants with lower feminist identification reported a greater proclivity toward collective action after being exposure to both a subversive humorous vignette and subversive serious vignette (vs. neutral humorous vignette). In Study 2 (n = 157 men and 188 women), we replaced the subversive serious vignette with a subversive serious discourse. The results revealed that exposure to a subversive humorous vignette (vs. subversive serious discourse and neutral humorous vignette) increased participants' collective action proclivity, but only in participants with weaker feminist identification. Both studies highlight a new pathway to motivate collective action for gender equality, as well as the potential effect of humor to promote a change in attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subversive humor has historically been considered a way of protesting, raising awareness, and seeking change. However, to date, no known empirical research has explored the consequences of exposure to humor that criticizes, confronts, and questions sexism (i.e., subversive humor against sexism or feminist humor). In the present research, we conducted two experiments to analyze the impact of exposure to subversive humor against sexism (vs. neutral humor) on the degree of involvement in collective action for gender equality, taking into account the feminist identity of participants. The results of Study 1 (n = 135) revealed that Spanish women and men with weaker feminist identification showed a higher proclivity to participate in collective action for gender equality after being exposed to subversive humor against sexism (vs. neutral humor). Study 2 (n = 134 Spanish women and men) replicated these results and expanded them to behavioral intentions to participate in this type of collective action. Our findings show the potential implications of using this type of humor for collective action for gender equality. Overall, subversive humor against sexism may function as a supportive tool to combat sexist attitudes, discrimination against women, and gender inequality by raising awareness in people with lower feminist identity to get them more involved in collective action. This approach would facilitate recruiting activists, getting more media coverage, and building a collective identity supporting mobilization against sexism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]