Borrowing from the selective perception hypothesis (Hastorf & Cantril, 1954) and inspired by the ‘Archie Bunker effect’ (Vidmar & Rokeach, 1974), the current study examines how cultural identification as Hillbilly or Yuppie guides interpretations and enjoyment of culturally-specific tendentious humor. Two episodes of the popular [adult swim] program Squidbillies were shown to college students from both cultural groups, as past work using Burke’s dramastic pentad (Authors, 2010) identified these episodes as using Hillbilly humor to critique the “banality and absurdity of the Yuppie status quo” (para 5). Path analyses connecting viewer identification, character identification, character liking, perceived humorous intent, and enjoyment demonstrate that as Yuppie identification increases, enjoyment suffers as a result of perceiving the show’s humor as increasingly tendentious. Citation: Bowman, N. D., Hallett, J., & Boyan, A. (2012, April). Squid or Chalkie? The role of self-identify and selective perception in processing tendentious Humor. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Communication Association, Boston-Cambridge

1. Bowman, N. D., Hallett, J., & Boyan, A. (2012, April). Squid or
Chalkie? The role of self-identify and selective perception in processing tendentious
Humor. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Eastern
Communication Association, Boston-Cambridge.
Why the
Chalkies
hate the
Squids!
Nicholas David Bowman, WVU
Jennifer Hallett, YHC
Andrew Boyan, Albion College

2. Overview
• Character identification is a known influence
on entertainment outcomes
• “Archie Bunker effect” (Vidmar & Rokeach,
1974) “All In The Family”
topped Nielsen charts
from 1971 to 1983.
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3. Overview
• Hillbillies in the media rarely shown in a
positive light; few chances for identification
• Few potential exceptions/archetypes
While not overtly positive
on its surface, Jed
Clampett is usually the
voice of reason in an
otherwise crazy modern
world
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4. Theoretical Model
• RQ: Might “Archie Bunker effect” be a feature
of perceived tendentiousness of humor
(Zillmann & Bryant, 1980)
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5. Method
• N = 80 college students
from a small, private
Southeastern college
– 53 female, Mage = 20.7,
(SD = 1.52)
• Mass screening of “a
popular animated series”
– Two episodes, 23 minutes
total
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6. “a popular animated series”
• Squidbillies, on [adult swim]
• Two episodes
– “Reunited, and It Feels No Good”
– “Not Without My Cash Cow”
`
“Although on its surface the show appears to be yet another satire about
hillbillies and rednecks, further investigation into the show’s narrative
reveals an emergent concept of otherness in how the writers portray non-
Appalachian groups, specifically suburban whites (referred to as “yogurt
lovin’ ‘Chalkies’”). In these depictions, the writers use satire to
express a sense of self-depreciating humor toward their own
[Chalkie] culture (Bowman & Groskopf, 2009, para. 1)
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7. Method
• Yuppie vs. Hillbilly identification (novel)
• Character Identification, adapted (Vidmar &
Rokeach, 1974)
• Social Attractiveness (McCroskey & McCain,
1974), transformed for one score
[(Early SA score – Durwood SA score) + 5] * -1
• Tendentious humor (novel)
• Enjoyment, adapted (Raney & Bryant, 2002)
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8. (Pre)Results
All measurements were found
reliable, with only Social
Attractiveness dropping below
Cronbach’s α < .80 (~ .75 for
both characters)
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9. Results
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10. Discussion
• Theoretical model largely supported, with the
addition character liking driving perceptions of
humor as tendentious or not.
• Unlike “Archie Bunker effect”, those
identifying heavily as Yuppie did not enjoy the
show or its premises
– Yuppies viewed as persecuted ingroup rather
than Hillbillies viewed as persecuted outgroup
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11. Discussion
“This data is particularly compelling in light of Author’s (2010) analysis, which used
the dramatistic pentad (Burke, 1945; 1950) paired with personal interviews with the
show’s writers to determine that indeed these two episodes of Squidbillies were
particularly crafted to invite a largely Yuppie audience along for a critique of
themselves and their own culture. Unfortunately for producers, data from our study
suggests that Yuppies – or at least, those Yuppies identified herein – did not enjoy
being the targets of derision, and in fact enjoyment suffered as identification with
Yuppies characters increased. This
negative relationship suggests
perhaps that the eventual goal of the tendentious humor is
potentially lost on the very audience for whom it was
intended.”
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12. Discussion
• Theoretical model largely supported, with the
addition character liking driving perceptions of
humor as tendentious or not.
• Unlike “Archie Bunker effect”, those
identifying heavily as Yuppie did not enjoy the
show or its premises
– Yuppies as persecuted ingroup rather than
Hillbillies as persecuted outgroup
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13. Future Research
• Replication of novel scales
– Yuppie vs. Hillbilly Identification
– Tendentious Humor
• Few identified with Early, so cross-
comparisons were not possible in this data
• Consider genre expectations and perceived
humorous intentions
• More sophisticated methods of measuring
Identification with characters/archetypes
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14. Conclusion
• Culturally-driven character identification
drives character linking, which:
– Directly influences enjoyment
– Indirectly influences enjoyment via perceptions of
humor tendentiousness
• This process can counterbalance subtle
intentions of show producers (in this case, to
show the absurdity of Yuppie lifestyle to
Yuppies)
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15. Thank you!
• In progress research, so for information:
Nicholas David Bowman, Ph.D.
Nicholas.Bowman@mail.wvu.edu
@bowmanspartan
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