Poster #153 - Understanding the Meaning of Racial/Ethnic Joking in Youth of Color

• In Event: Poster Session 01

Abstract

Racial/ethnic jokes have been a part of social life in modern societies. Among youth, jokes are commonly used to address race/ethnicity in many contexts including home, school, and social media (Tynes, 2007; Byrd & Ahn., 2020; Douglass et al., 2016). Specifically, the rise of Asian hate during COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement have raised the attention on racial/ethnic jokes more recently. A quick review of recent news shows more than 80 entries on racial/ethnic jokes in the last week. However, despite its wide usage in the public arena, there is limited empirical work as evidenced with less than 20 entries on PsychINFO. The number is lower once the sample – youth of color – is taken into consideration. The current qualitative study is an effort to close this gap by giving a voice to youth of color about their experiences around racial/ethnic jokes.

The literature on racial/ethnic joking has been tangled with concepts such as racial/ethnic teasing and racial humor. Limited empirical evidence demonstrates conflicting findings, ranging from micro affirmations to micro aggressions, with quite different conceptual operationalization of the construct. For example, Lewis (2013) frames racial/ethnic joking as harmless humor and believes it is beneficial in mitigating and talking about sensitive topics such as racism and stereotypes. On the other hand, Perez and Ward (2019) show that racial and ethnic jokes normalize and reinforce systemic racism and racial/ethnic stereotypes.

This qualitative study is designed to better understand the meanings behind racial/ethnic joking, especially through taking an intersectionality perspective with focus on race/ethnicity and gender (Juang & Syed, 2019; Garcia Coll et al., 1996). We recruited 15 undergraduate students who were split evenly into three focus groups that were stratified by race (Asian, Black, Latinx). All 15 participants self-identified as American youth, with age ranges from 19 to 22 years (M = 20.43, SD = 1.2). Seven participants identified as male, seven participants identified as female, and one participant identified as non-binary. Each focus group was scheduled for 90 minutes. A thematic analysis will be conducted using the grounded theory analysis (Strauss & Corbin, 1998) to identify emerging themes from the transcripts.

Preliminary thematic analysis suggests that depending on the context and differences in multiple social power structures between the one receiving the jokes and the one producing the jokes, the meaning of the jokes vary. Specifically, variation within racial/ethnic differences, social power dynamics, and gender identities influence the meaning making of racial/ethnic jokes. Detailed results from the analysis will be discussed during the poster as well as future directions and implications for theory and research.

Given the prevalence of racial/ethnic joking in the lives of youth of color, it is essential that we begin to better understand its prevalence, as well as how youth make meaning of it. Only after such thorough research efforts can we begin to suggest effective interventions that foster transparent talks on race/ethnicity.

Authors

• Elysia Choi, New York University
  Presenting Author

• Selcuk R. Sirin, New York University

• Xinyu Gu, Columbia University