On humor in the hands of extremists
The role of humor in the dissemination of racist views and attitudes has been discussed, but the reasons humor lends itself to converting people even to extremist ideologies has received less attention. My recent article in the Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior sheds light on this. I argue that the basic need for a human connection, which is an important reason we engage in humor in the first place, lends itself to manipulative purposes as well. Simply put, we are more open to ideas we find objectionable when they are expressed by someone who arouses a sense of belonging in us. Humor’s capacity to produce this sense of togetherness and intimacy can be employed intentionally for manipulation. The clandestine Daily Stormer Style Guide is used as a case study that demonstrates how humor is intentionally employed for this purpose by extremist actors.
