ABSTRACT

The content of the jokes collected reflected the stereotypes held by Jews and Arabs toward each other. Arabs were portrayed as stupid, dirty and cowardly, while Jews appeared to be courageous, business-minded and stingy. The traits that characterize Israeli Jews were also found in American Jews. A comparison of extrapunitive humor produced by Jews and Arabs toward Jewish and Arab butts was made by employing ANOVA with repeated measures with covariants, Extrapunitive humor was the dependent variable, and nationality of the respondents and of the butts were independent variables (intelligence and basic aggression were covariants). The Jew in the joke might belong to a subgroup that the listener rejects; therefore he is not laughing at himself. The fact that Jews in Israel belong to the majority may have influenced their approach to humor. Humor turned against a representative of the subject's own group —when Jews or Arabs produced aggressive humorous responses toward their own representative.