The popularity and commercial success of electronic media that pair humor with violence suggests that many people enjoy laughing at screen media violence. But who is most likely to find media violence funny? To answer this question, we measured media violence exposure, dark personality traits, and the extent to which participants found media violence humorous in 2 cross-sectional survey studies with samples of undergraduate students (Study 1 N = 215; Study 2 N = 178). Across the 2 studies, we assessed moral disengagement, the dark triad, spitefulness, sadism, and proneness to schadenfreude as dark personality traits. Among other findings, men with high exposure to media violence, those who score high on sadism, and those who are prone to moral disengagement and schadenfreude were the most likely to find media violence funny. These were the most consistent associations; they were of small-to-moderate size. Thus, those who laugh the hardest at media violence may have the darkest personalities. Public Policy Relevance StatementTwo studies demonstrated that finding humor in media violence is positively related to the male gender, exposure to media violence, and the dark personality traits of sadism, moral disengagement, and schadenfreude. These findings suggest that TV shows, movies, and video games that pair humor with violence are enjoyed the most by men with dark personalities and a history of violent media use. The findings also support developmental models that suggest that frequent exposure to violent media can affect personality in socially maladaptive ways.

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