Babylon Bee Panel Data 01.16.25.xlsx

<i>Abstract</i>: Most research on the effects of exposure to political humor deals with left-leaning content. Little focuses on conservative political humor or its effects, and this is primarily because until fairly recently, there was little conservative political humor in the US that held mass popular appeal. However the growing popularity of Fox News’ <i>Gutfeld!</i> and the Internet-based conservative Christian Babylon Bee has changed this equation. This study examines how young adults perceive humorous video clips from the Babylon Bee and how those clips may have affected their political views. As expected, results show that the politically conservative and self-identified Republicans were more likely to express appreciation for the right-leaning humor of the Babylon Bee. It was also hypothesized, consistent with research that shows left-leaning political humor has a message consistent effect on attitudes, that viewing these videos would move political opinion in a rightward direction. This was not the case. With its focus on right-leaning political humor, the study begins to fill a gap in humor effects literature that has resulted from the changing landscape of political humor.