title: Role of Humor in the Persuasiveness of Entertainment Narratives on Unprotected Sexual Behavior.
abstract: Past research involving the persuasive impact of entertainment narratives on health attitudes and behavior has largely been limited to dramatic narratives. The current research focuses on humorous narratives related to unprotected sex. We conducted an experiment (N = 161) in which female viewers were exposed to a humorous story line about unprotected sex, an identical story line with humor edited out, or a story line unrelated to unprotected sex. Our findings suggested that humor increased perceived severity of unintended pregnancy, while having no effect on counterarguing. Also, the presence of humor reduced behavioral intentions to engage in unprotected sex. Implications of the findings for safe sex communication are discussed.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Communication , University of Maryland , College Park , Maryland , USA.
authors.forename: Michelle L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Futerfas
authors.affiliation: a Department of Communication , University of Maryland , College Park , Maryland , USA.
authors.forename: Xiaoli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Nan
mesh_terms: D001290:Attitude; D005260:Female; D058015:Health Communication / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D033262:Narration; D010565:Persuasive Communication; D011247:Pregnancy; D049168:Pregnancy, Unplanned / Q000523:psychology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013690:Television; D047568:Unsafe Sex / Q000523:psychology*; D014925:Wit and Humor as Topic; D055815:Young Adult