The Fey Effect Young Adults, Political Humor, and Perceptions of Sarah Palin in the 2008 Presidential Election Campaign

Using panel data of young adults, we find evidence that ex- posure to Tina Feys impersonation of Sarah Palins performance in the 2008 vice-presidential debate on Saturday Night Live is associated with changes in attitudes toward her selection as VP candidate and presidential vote intentions. These effects are most pronounced among self-identified Independents and Republicans. Recent studies show that late-night comedy exposure is significantly associated with multiple aspects of political attitudes (Baumgartner and Morris 2006; Moy, Xenos, and Hess 2006; Young 2004). Using panel data of young adults surveyed in the late stages of the 2008 presidential campaign, we find that those who saw Tina Feys impersonation of Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Lives (SNL) skit of the vice-presidential debate displayed steeper declines in approval for Palin than those who saw debate coverage through other means. Interest- ingly, this ''Fey Effect'' spilled over into vote intention, and was most pro- nounced among self-identified Republicans. This research is important because it serves as a corrective to the mostly post- hoc and correlational evidence regarding the effect of comedic portrayals of Palin on public opinion. Interestingly, most of the published empirical research on the effect of humor on attitudes ignores sketch comedy and focuses on late-night talk shows. This is surprising, given that SNL has been doing parodies of presidential candidates since its inaugural season in 1975. The analysis also provides a telling