ABSTRACT
It is appropriate that the last of the series of cases studied should be that of American stupidity jokes about Poles, since it is a striking disproof of the thesis that jokes about a particular national or ethnic group pinning an undesirable trait upon that group are necessarily or even likely to be a response to a threatening situation and an expression of hostility and aggression. Jokes are a good method of getting an audience to enjoy itself and to identify with someone speaking on a serious topic and in that sense help persuasion. Jokes are not a good method of inciting hatred or moral indignation, since they divert the audience's feelings away from strong feelings of this kind. The opposite of the American situation in relation to the Poles has been true, historically, in Central and Eastern Europe where there have been few jokes about Poles but a wealth of ethnic slurs.
