Softening the Blow or Sharpening the Blade: Examining the Reputational Effects of Satire

Criticism is foundational to the fabric of society and can directly impact people’s reputations. Although criticism takes many forms, one prevalent form of criticism is satire—the coupling of criticism with humor. While the lighthearted and playful nature of satire has been argued to render it innocuous, the present research suggests that satire can in some cases be more incendiary than direct criticism. First, a naturalistic study examines nonpolitical satirical versus critical YouTube videos. Participants (N = 1,311) evaluated a criticized individual more negatively following satire compared to direct criticism. Moreover, when conducting automated text analysis of the actual comments left by viewers on YouTube (N = 104,555), people used more dehumanizing language in response to satirical versus critical videos. In six subsequent lab experiments (N = 2,040) using memes and videos, causal evidence is provided that nonpolitical satire can cause greater damage to a target’s reputation than direct criticism. Evidence that satire renders targets as less human, and thus more prone to more reputational damage is explored via both mediation and moderation.