No laughing matter? Young adults and the “spillover effect” of candidate-centered political humor

Is there a spillover effect among young adults that results from viewing candidate-centered political comedy? A panel survey was conducted where one half of the subjects, all aged 18–24, viewed four short animated online video clips lambasting the candidates during the final months of the 2008 presidential campaign. Results suggest that a negative schema was primed among viewers as the result of viewing this candidate-centered political humor, which appears to have guided evaluations of other political objects as well. In particular, viewers of the clips evaluated public officials, government and the news media lower than did non-viewers. The research adds to our understanding of the effects of political humor, suggesting that the attitudinal effects of political humor extend well beyond its explicit target.