“Let’s Talk about Sex”: Expanding Advice Response Theory to Sexual Advice-Seeking

ABSTRACT

Communicating about sex with close friends (i.e., support providers) can shape perceptions about sex and sexuality. Drawing from Advice Response Theory (ART) we considered support recipients’ dispositional traits (i.e., sexual sensation seeking) as an intervening variable on advice outcomes. Support recipients (N= 270) reported on support providers persuasive efforts, their trait sensation seeking, advice message content, and advice outcomes. Results indicated that support recipients evaluated advice message content based on their perceptions of altering and novel perspectives, and the quality of advice messages. Although recipients perceived that altering their perspectives influenced greater sensation seeking, novel sexual messages were perceived to be more efficacious, feasible, and with few limitations. Support providers who aimed to change recipients’ perspectives about sex were perceived to be less efficacious, and feasible to do. Theoretical and practical implications are provided.

KEYWORDS:

• Sexual advice
• Advice
• sexual health
• persuasion
• advice response theory

Disclosure statement

We have no known conflict of interest to disclose

Notes

1. Modification indices determined that sensation seeking item 7 (i.e., SS7) should be fixed to (1-α)*σ.