{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,14]],"date-time":"2026-02-14T10:45:40Z","timestamp":1771065940438,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":57,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,23]],"date-time":"2022-03-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1647993600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,23]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n               <jats:p>Online incivility is a persistent issue facing many news and social media platforms. To better understand it, we examined whether humorous content reduced online incivility and whether the (in)civility of another user might mitigate or amplify this effect in two experiments (Study 1, N\u2009=\u2009122; Study 2, N\u2009=\u2009208). Participants in both experiments read an online opinion article about an instance of negative stereotyping and provided a comment on a simulated online news forum. The first study manipulated article humor (humorous vs. not humorous). The second study manipulated humor and the (in)civility of a previous user\u2019s comment (civil vs. uncivil). In both studies, humor-reduced incivility. Anger mediated this effect. Source liking mediated the positive effect of humor on reducing anger. The (in)civility of a previous comment did not affect these results. Overall, the findings point to the value of humor and anger reduction in managing online incivility.<\/jats:p>\n               <jats:p>Lay Summary<\/jats:p>\n               <jats:p>Online incivility is a common occurrence in online public forums. This article investigated factors that may reduce incivility in two online experiments. The first experiment tested whether humor reduced anger and subsequently the incivility of participants\u2019 comments towards a negative stereotype-challenging op-ed article. The second experiment tested whether exposure to civil and uncivil previous user comments influenced the civility of participants\u2019 comments. Humor was found to reduce online incivility by reducing feelings of anger and increasing liking towards the author in both experiments. Exposure to another user\u2019s comment, whether civil or uncivil, did not appear to influence the civility of participants\u2019 comments, suggesting that article content is a more likely trigger for online incivility.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/jcmc\/zmac005","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,15]],"date-time":"2022-02-15T20:17:28Z","timestamp":1644956248000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":16,"title":["Humor Reduces Online Incivility"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"27","author":[{"given":"Yomna","family":"Elsayed","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Communication, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA"}]},{"given":"Andrea B","family":"Hollingshead","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"2022032516220266500_zmac005-B54"},{"key":"2022032516220266500_zmac005-B2","author":"Ali","year":"2016"},{"key":"2022032516220266500_zmac005-B3","author":"Aten"},{"issue":"1","key":"2022032516220266500_zmac005-B4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"23","DOI":"10.1016\/0022-1031(74)90054-7","article-title":"The aggression-inhibiting influence of non hostile humor","volume":"10","author":"Baron","year":"1974","journal-title":"Journal of Experimental Social Psychology"},{"key":"2022032516220266500_zmac005-B5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1173","DOI":"10.1037\/0022-3514.51.6.1173","article-title":"The moderator\u2013mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations","volume":"51","author":"Baron","year":"1986","journal-title":"Journal of Personality, Social, and Psychology"},{"key":"2022032516220266500_zmac005-B6","author":"Bieg","year":"2013"},{"key":"2022032516220266500_zmac005-B7","first-page":"491","author":"Borkan","year":"2019"},{"key":"2022032516220266500_zmac005-B8","author":"Borkan","year":"2019"},{"issue":"1","key":"2022032516220266500_zmac005-B9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1540-5907.2007.00233.x","article-title":"Beyond negativity: The effects of incivility on the electorate","volume":"51","author":"Brooks","year":"2007","journal-title":"American Journal of Political Science"},{"issue":"4","key":"2022032516220266500_zmac005-B10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"365","DOI":"10.5771\/2192-4007-2017-4-365","article-title":"Facebook discussions of journalistic news: Investigating article objectivity, topic, and media brand as influencing factors","volume":"6","author":"Br\u00fcckner","year":"2017","journal-title":"SCM Studies in Communication and Media"},{"key":"2022032516220266500_zmac005-B11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-56273-5","volume-title":"Online incivility and public debate: Nasty talk","author":"Chen","year":"2017"},{"key":"2022032516220266500_zmac005-B12","first-page":"1217","author":"Cheng","year":"2017"},{"issue":"2","key":"2022032516220266500_zmac005-B13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"234","DOI":"10.1080\/03637750902828420","article-title":"Why do virtual communities regulate speech?","volume":"76","author":"Chua","year":"2009","journal-title":"Communication Monographs"},{"issue":"4","key":"2022032516220266500_zmac005-B14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"658","DOI":"10.1111\/jcom.12104","article-title":"Online and uncivil? 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