Abstract We explore the idea that humor focused on social group disparities can be a viable tool to reduce some of the negative outcomes associated with interracial interactions. These interactions are crucial in promoting common understanding about the causes of social, educational, and economic disparities and crafting solutions to redress them. However, investigations have demonstrated that interracial interactions can be emotionally and cognitively taxing, and for these reasons are often avoided. When not avoided, these interactions often result in negative outcomes. Anxiety has been identified as a key factor in these outcomes as majority group members cope with concerns over appearing biased and minority group members cope with concerns over being discriminated against. Humor may be able to alleviate anxiety that contributes to negative outcomes associated with intergroup dialogue. To explore this claim, we first review the literature on interracial interactions and the role of anxiety in shaping them. We then discuss investigations exploring the impact of group-related humor, specifically disparagement humor, on intergroup perceptions. Finally, we draw from both literatures to consider factors that might determine race-related humor’s potential to facilitate positive interracial dialogue through anxiety reduction. We conclude with some possible areas for further research.

中文翻译：

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打破僵局的明智之举：种族幽默缓解跨种族焦虑的潜力

摘要 我们探讨了这样一种观点，即关注社会群体差异的幽默可以成为减少与种族互动相关的一些负面结果的可行工具。这些互动对于促进对造成社会、教育和经济差距的原因的共同理解以及制定解决方案来纠正这些差距至关重要。然而，调查表明，跨种族互动可能会在情感和认知上造成负担，因此通常会避免。如果不避免，这些相互作用通常会导致负面结果。焦虑已被确定为这些结果的一个关键因素，因为多数群体成员应对出现偏见的担忧，少数群体成员应对受到歧视的担忧。幽默可能能够缓解导致与群体间对话相关的负面结果的焦虑。为了探索这一主张，我们首先回顾了关于跨种族互动的文献以及焦虑在塑造它们中的作用。然后，我们讨论了探索与群体相关的幽默，特别是贬低幽默对群体间认知的影响的调查。最后，我们从两篇文献中汲取了一些因素，以考虑可能决定与种族相关的幽默通过减少焦虑来促进积极的跨种族对话的潜力的因素。我们总结了一些可能需要进一步研究的领域。特别是贬低幽默，关于群体间的看法。最后，我们从两篇文献中得出可能决定种族相关幽默通过减少焦虑促进积极跨种族对话的潜力的因素。我们总结了一些可能需要进一步研究的领域。特别是贬低幽默，关于群体间的看法。最后，我们从两篇文献中汲取了一些因素，以考虑可能决定与种族相关的幽默通过减少焦虑来促进积极的跨种族对话的潜力的因素。我们总结了一些可能需要进一步研究的领域。