The Power of Humor: The Role of Political Entertainment Programming in South Korea for Enhancing Attitudes Toward the Oppositional Message Source

Drawing on the dual-process models of persuasion, this study sheds light on the impacts of political entertainment programming in South Korea with a particular emphasis on its potential to alleviate ideological polarization by enhancing attitudes toward the oppositional message source. The results from an online experiment show that counter-attitudinal exposure through political entertainment programming tends to predispose viewers to process humor-embedded content via the peripheral route, directly increasing oppositional source liking and decreasing counterarguing. These spontaneous responses then translate into more systematic processing, ultimately generating a more congenial perception of oppositional claims. Meanwhile, those exposed to straightforward political debate programming would rather process incongruent cues along the central route, denigrating the argument quality of oppositional claims to better defend their existing opinions.