About this Research Topic
While the relationship between humor and health has been investigated through different perspectives, some areas are still under-researched. Communication studies, for instance, have primarily focused on the implications of mass media. In this context, it was observed that humor in advertisements enhances attention and improved the persuasiveness of preventive messages. Whilst preventive health campaigns appeal to negative emotions like fear in order to dissuade their audience from hazardous health behavior, the use of fear can lead to defensive reactions, such as avoidance or denial. In order to circumvent the phenomenon whereby preventive messages are perceived as a threat to an individual’s attitudinal freedom, introducing humor and positive psychology in health warnings may open the audience for “healthy” arguments.
This Research Topic encourages perspectives on the relationship between humor and health from various scientific disciplines. Possible topics or themes can include, but are not limited to: Health communication, health promotion, prevention, and care. We welcome submissions of Original Research (qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods), Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses, and profound Methods, Hypothesis and Theory on humor and health.
Keywords: health communication, mass media, prevention, emotion, positive psychology, humor
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.