Date of Award
6-2009
Document Type
Union College Only
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
George Bizer
Language
English
Keywords
sex, guilt, high, individuals, women
Abstract
Prior research has shown that individuals high in sex guilt have fewer sexual partners and are involved in less sexual behavior. Furthermore, high sex guilt (HSG) individuals retain less information than low sex guilt (LSG) individuals following persuasive communication. Due to the similarity of retention and persuasion, I hypothesized that high sex guilt people would be less persuaded than low sex guilt due to either a counterarguing or selective exposure process. Eighty-three undergraduate women were exposed to a sex-related persuasive message that contained either weak or strong arguments concerning reasons to use a new form of birth control. Participants then reported their attitudes toward the birth-control product. Finally, participants’ sex guilt was assessed. Results indicated that regardless of argument quality, HSG women were less persuaded than were LSG women. Furthermore, neither counterarguing nor selective exposure mediated the effect, suggesting that sex guilt acts as a peripheral cue in persuasion.
Recommended Citation
Wakeland, Elise Ann, "Sex guilt and persuasion" (2009). Honors Theses. 1419.
https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses/1419