Julie A. Woodzicka*, Robyn K. Mallett and Kala J. Melchiori Gender differences in using humor to respond to sexist jokes https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2019-0018 Abstract: We examine the degree to which women and men use humor to confront sexist jokes. We also test the social benefits and perceived effectiveness of confronting with humor. One-hundred-sixty-four (46% female) participants read about a male coworker who made a sexist joke and reported how they would respond in an open-ended format. Women were more likely than men to say they would respond with humor. Specifically, 16% of women, compared to 4.5% of men, spontaneously provided a humorous confrontation. Participants then read a second scenario that asked them to imagine a male friend making a sexist joke. We manipulated the confronter’s gender and the type of confronta- tion (humorous versus serious) in the scenario. Confronters who used a humor- ous (versus serious) response were rated as more likeable but less effective. People often hesitate to confront sexism for fear of social repercussions. Given that humorous confrontation reduces social backlash, it might be worth slightly lower perceived effectiveness to increase overall rates of confronting sexism. Keywords: sexist humor, confrontation, gender differences, backlash 1 Introduction A disparaging message couched in humor can be just as, or even more, harmful as a serious message (Ford 2000; Ford et al. 2008). Sexist humor not only diminishes women but also trivializes that diminishment, making the confron- tation of sexist humor uniquely difficult (Mallett et al. 2016; Woodzicka et al. 2015). One barrier to confronting sexism is the social backlash that often accom- panies confrontation (Good et al. 2012). The social costs are especially high when confrontations are serious or assertive (Becker and Barreto 2014; Martinez et al. *Corresponding author: Julie A. Woodzicka, Cognitive and Behavioral Science, Washington and Lee University, 204 W. Washington Street, Lexington, Virginia 24450, USA, E-mail: woodzickaj@wlu.edu Robyn K. Mallett, Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, 1032 W. Sheridan Rd., Chicago, Illinois 60660, USA, E-mail: rmallett@luc.edu Kala J. Melchiori, Psychology, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA, E-mail: melchikj@jmu.edu Humor 2020; 33(2): 219–238