Sexist jokes don’t appear to increase rape proclivity among men high in hostile sexism: Evidence from two pre-registered direct replications of Thomae and Viki (2013)

Abstract

Abstract Thomae and Viki (2013) reported that increased exposure to sexist humor can increase rape proclivity among men who score high on measures of Hostile Sexism. Here we report two pre-registered direct replications (Total N = 530) of Study 2 from Thomae and Viki (2013) and assess replicability via (i) statistical significance, (ii) Bayes factors, (iii) a small-telescope approach, and (iv) a mini meta-analysis across the original and replication studies. The original results were not supported by any of the approaches. Combining both the original studies and replications yielded strong evidence in support of the null over the experimental hypothesis (Bayes factor = 0.04). The evidence provided by the current studies therefore suggests sexist jokes do not increase rape proclivity among males high in hostile sexism. We encourage researchers to continue to conduct pre-registered and open research to further understand the potential (lack of) impact of sexist humor in the future.