Using Humor for Sexual Health Education

• In Event: Let's Talk About Sex: Communicating About Sexual Health

Abstract

Scholars and educators attempting to educate young people about sexual health often struggle to connect in meaningful ways with their audience. One potential promising message strategy for raising sexual knowledge and awareness may be the use of humor. However, humor as a strategy for sexual health promotion and education has received inadequate investigation. The current study extends knowledge in this area by investigating the potential merit of humor by varying the amount of humor used in a short video about condom use. Results indicated that greater perceived humor was positively associated with desirable message characteristics, and negatively related to undesirable message characteristics. Notable differences by sex and age were also observed. Implications of this research for the design and implementation of sexual health interventions is considered. In addition, limitations of the current study and future directions for research are also presented.

Authors

• Tobias Reynolds-Tylus, U of Illinois

• Lance S. Rintamaki, U at Buffalo, State U of New York

• Thomas Hugh Feeley, U of Buffalo