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Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 28, No. 7, 863-873 (2002)

Humor in Persuasion on Threatening Topics: Effectiveness is a Function of Audience Sex Role Orientation

Michael Conway

Concordia University

Laurette Dubé

McGill University

The hypothesis was that humor relative to no-humor appeals onthreatening topics are effective for high-masculinity individualsbecause they seem particularly averse to experiencing distress(i.e., sadness and fear). Persuasive targets were sunscreen use toprevent melanoma (skin cancer) in Study 1 and condom use toprevent AIDS in Study 2. The humor and no-humor appeals presentedthe same substantive information. In both studies, high-masculinitymen and women exhibited greater intent to adoptthe preventive behaviors in response to the humor relative to theno-humor appeal; no difference emerged for low-masculinityindividuals. Humor effects were not related to explicit responsesto the ads (e.g., listed thoughts and feelings). In Study 2, threatintensity in the media context was manipulated (moderate vs.low) as experiential processing is likely favored under greaterthreat. Overall, the results seem attributable to experientialprocessing of humor appeals on threatening topics by high-masculinityparticipants.

Key Words: humor • persuasion • gender roles • reactions to threat


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