Apples versus oranges, normative claims, and other things we did not mention: a response to Purser and Harper (2023)

Abstract

In a previous article, we observed that system justification was positively associated with the appreciation of humor targeting low-status groups (Baltiansky, Craig, & Jost, 2021). We are pleased to learn that other researchers took interest in our study, reanalyzing the data set we made publicly available and writing a commentary. We are also pleased that, using Bayesian statistical analyses, Purser and Harper (2023) reached the same conclusion we did based on frequentist analyses, namely that low system-justifiers found jokes targeting low-status groups to be less funny than high system-justifiers did. However, we object to the commentators’ use of value-laden language in characterizing the pattern of results and to several unsubstantiated insinuations and allegations of an ideological nature that they make about our motives and opinions about “cancel culture” and the deplatforming of professional comedians.