Hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan are often seen as a serious and highly threatening group and although the Ku Klux Klan is considered a threatening group; most people don't realize the extent to which humor can influence negative views of groups like the Ku Klux Klan. According to an article done by Billig (2001) on sites that contained African American jokes advertised as simple jokes and not to promote violence; these jokes contained words and phrases related to extreme racist hatred. These sites also contained links to Ku Klux Klan sites, and Billing (2001) believes that the racist hatred depicted in these jokes actually promotes negative beliefs and even violence towards African Americans. This example of humor being used to influence the beliefs of specific groups of individuals is extreme, but often jokes that may seem harmless could actually negatively influence an individual's view of the group at which the joke is directed. This study will test the effect of jokes directed toward specific groups on the views of those who perceive these jokes. Specifically, it is predicted that jokes that negatively portray a specific group will also negatively influence the views of those who perceive that group within the individual's specific characteristics. Theories, Terms, and Scales In the study conducted by Crandell and Eshleman (2003), prejudice is operationalized as the negative opinions of a specific group that are expressed when prejudice is considered more acceptable and is no longer suppressed. Furthermore, justification is operationalized as any evidence, be it psychological or social, that allows the expression of a prejudice to be considered as non-threatening to the individual because it has… half of paper… .pean Journal of Social Psychology, 31. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.56Ford, T. E., Boxer, C. F., Armstrong, J., & Edel J. R. (2008). More than “just a joke”: The anti-bias function of sexist humor. Society for Personality and Social Psychology, 34(2), 159-170. doi: 10.1177/0146167207310022Hobden, K. L., & Olson, J. M. (1994). From joke to dislike: Denigratory humor as a source of dissonance-motivated attitude change. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 15(3), 239-249.Hodson, G., Rush, J., & MacInnis, C. C. (2010). A joke is just a joke (except when it's not): Derogatory humor beliefs facilitate the expression of group dominance motivations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99(4), 660-682. doi: 10.1037/a0019627Thomas, C. A., & Esses, V. M. (2004). Individual differences in reactions to sexist humor. Group processes and intergroup relations, 7 (1), 89-100.