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This is a blog about the scientific basis of medicine. A judo therapist reads research papers for study and writes about them.

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Biases about a person's attractiveness can influence women's condom use intentions.

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

psychology

Does Attraction Affect Condom Use Intentions of Women Who Have Sex with Men?

Published on May 23, 2019

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0217152

Explanation

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between female attractiveness, sexual health, condom use intention, and condom use resistance.

The target population was 480 English-speaking women who have sex with men between the ages of 18-32.

The experimental procedure involved rating the attractiveness of 20 men based on facial photographs, estimating the likelihood that each man was infected with a sexually transmitted infection (STI), and being asked to indicate their willingness to have sex with each man without a condom.

The behaviors and responses were used to measure condom resistance tactics and to assess their impact on condom use intentions.

Results showed that participants who judged men to be attractive were more likely to intend to have sex with men (r (478) = 0.987, p <.001) and also less likely to intend that women use condoms during sex. (r = -0.552, df = 478, p = .007)

Men's average perceived STI likelihood was not significantly related to average perceived attractiveness or participants' average willingness to have sex.

And it also showed that the more attractive participants judged themselves to be, the more likely they were to believe that men were more likely to have a sexually transmitted infection. (r = 0.103, df = 478, p <.05).

The researcher commented on the need to recognize the existence of such risk bias and to act without misunderstanding.

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