Predicting Safer Sex Practices: The Interactive Role of Partner Cooperation and Cognitive Factors

This study integrates aspects of cognitive and social contextual approaches to understanding the practice of safer sex. Study participants were 398 unmarried college students attending one of two institutions of higher education in Texas. As predicted, individuals who perceived more cooperation from their sexual partner to practice safer sex were significantly more likely to do so than those who saw their partners as uncooperative. Especially important, as predicted, partner cooperation also moderated the relationship between cognitive and behavioral predictors and safer sex. These moderation findings demonstrate that partner cooperation limits the range of operation of psychological factors that have been shown in previous research to play a significant role in deciding to practice safer sex.     

Safer Sex Among HIV+ Women: The Role of Relationships

Among 230 HIV+ women in New York City, 105 had been heterosexually active in the last 90 days and 54% of these reported unsafe sex. Contrary to our hypotheses based on relational theory, respondents with steady partners were more likely to have unprotected sex than nonpartnered women. However, among respondents with steady partners, the degree of commitment to the relationship was positively associated with condom use. The only other correlate of unprotected sex was current drug use. Almost all steady partners were aware of the woman's HIV status, and, contrary to our hypothesis, respondents were not more likely to have protected sex with HIV– than HIV+ steady partners. The discussion considers self-in-relation theory, culture, power, and contextualistic behaviorism.     

Relationships Between Contraceptive Behavior and Love Attitudes,Sex Attitudes,and Self-Esteem

The current research took into account two previously developed models of effective contraceptive behavior, a model emphasizing interpersonal variables and a model emphasizing intrapersonal variables. The purpose was to identify variables related to contraception that could be addressed during contraceptive counseling and to aid persons in deciding the most effective contraceptive method within the context of an intimate relationship. The research used questionnaire responses from 350 male and female college undergraduates. Results indicated some support for aspects of both models, with modest relationships between contraceptive behavior and attitudes toward both love and sex, and self-esteem. The difficulties of developing a comprehensive model of contraceptive behavior are discussed, as are some practical implications of this research.     

Safe and Unsafe Sexual Intentions and Behavior: The Effects of Norms and Attitudes1

A study of 85 heterosexual men, 85 heterosexual women, and 82 homosexual men was undertaken to examine the variables that influence intentions to engage in different sexual practices and actual sexual behavior. On the basis of Fishbein and Ajzen's (1975) theory of reasoned action, it was predicted that the strength of intentions would be related to whether behavior was in accord with intentions. Consistent with expectations, the strength of intention to engage in six different sexual practices (e. g., vaginal intercourse, anal intercourse, oral sex) and the three strategies that modify the risk of HIV transmission (sex with an exclusive partner, sex wearing a condom, and looking for a new partner) predicted actual behavior. Second, it was proposed that attitudes toward one's sexual practices and norms would be related to intentions to engage in safe sex. To reflect differential levels in the safety of behavioral intentions, five safety intention groups were formed: (a) nonpenetrative sex, (b) penetrative sex in an exclusive relationship with a condom, (c) penetrative sex in an exclusive relationship without a condom, (d) penetrative sex in a nonexclusive relationship with a condom, and (e) penetrative sex in a nonexclusive relationship without a condom. Norms, rather than attitudes, distinguished the five safety intention groups. the groups intending to engage in safe sex (nonpenetrative sex or penetrative sex with a condom) perceived lower levels of social approval for their sexual practices than the noncondom groups. Additional analyses showed that past behavior had a stabilizing effect on the intention-behavior relationship, but only for the nonpenetrative and noncondom safety intention groups.     

Attributions About Rape: Effects of Rapist Force, Observer Sex and Sex Role Attitudes

The present study investigated subjects' perceptions of a hypothetical rape situation as a function of the amount of force used in the rape, sex of subject, and subjects' attitudes toward feminism. Two hundred thirty-two subjects (118 females, 114 males) were randomly assigned by sex to one of three force conditions. Consistent with expectation, subjects expressed greater certainty that a rape had actually occurred with increased force on the part of the assailant ( p <.001). A second hypothesis received partial support: Increasing force led to stronger attributions of rape on the part of traditional women, whereas liberal women tended to see the incident as rape at all force levels. A similar relationship did not emerge for men, however. As predicted, profeminist subjects implicated societal factors as causal in rape to a greater extent than did nonfeminists. Contrary to prediction, however, pro- and nonfeminists were not found to differ from each other in the degree of blame attributed to either the victim or the assailant. The findings support the general notion that one's gender and sex-role attitudes as well as the degree of force used by a rape assailant affect one's evaluation of this situation and the manner in which one attributes cause. Implications for rape prevention and victim reaction are discussed.     

College Student Cheating: The Role of Motivation,Perceived Norms,Attitudes, and Knowledge of Institutional Policy

This study provides a comparative analysis of students' self-reported beliefs and behaviors related to six analogous pairs of conventional and digital forms of academic cheating. Results from an online survey of undergraduates at two universities (N = 1,305) suggest that students use conventional means more often than digital means to copy homework, collaborate when it is not permitted, and copy from others during an exam. However, engagement in digital plagiarism (cutting and pasting from the Internet) has surpassed conventional plagiarism. Students also reported using digital “cheat sheets” (i.e., notes stored in a digital device) to cheat on tests more often than conventional “cheat sheets.” Overall, 32% of students reported no cheating of any kind, 18.2% reported using only conventional methods, 4.2% reported using only digital methods, and 45.6% reported using both conventional and digital methods to cheat. “Digital only” cheaters were less likely than “conventional only” cheaters to report assignment cheating, but the former was more likely than the latter to report engagement in plagiarism. Students who cheated both conventionally and digitally were significantly different from the other three groups in terms of their self-reported engagement in all three types of cheating behavior. Students in this “both” group also had the lowest sense of moral responsibility to refrain from cheating and the greatest tendency to neutralize that responsibility. The scientific and educational implications of these findings are discussed in this study.     

The Correlates of Antinuclear Activism: Attitudes, Subjective Norms, and Efficacy

Ajzen's (1988) theory of planned behavior was modified and used to examine antinuclear behavior. Subjects completed a questionnaire measuring their antinuclear attitudes, their perceptions of support for taking antinuclear action, and their perceptions of efficacy in this arena. Then, an antinuclear behavioral intentions questionnaire was presented, as well as several opportunities to engage in various antinuclear actions. Regression analyses indicated that Ajzen's model was supported to the extent that attitude emerged as a significant predictor of antinuclear intentions and behaviors. Subjective norms and efficacy were not significant predictors of either intentions or behaviors. Models incorporating behavior-specific attitude measures accounted for more variance than did models using more general attitude measures toward nuclear war/weapons.     

Self-Ratings and Projected Ratings of Sex Role Attitudes

To ascertain the veridicality of projected attitudes toward sex role behavior, 74 male and 74 female undergraduates filled out the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (AWS) using three different targets: self, typical female classmate, and typical male classmate. Analyses of variance on respondents' total AWS scores and on the six AWS subscale scores showed significant interactions between sex of respondent and sex of target for all seven variables. Since the directions of the interactions were not consistent across subscales, the results indicated the methodological necessity of using measurements which examine a variety of specific subclasses of sex role behaviors (rather than using unidimensional scale or total test scores) when stereotypic sex role attitudes are sought. In general, both sexes were found to have a fairly accurate perception of women's attitudes, but both sexes consistently perceived the typical male as more conservative than the male self-ratings justified.     

Self-Control and the Self-Regulation of Dieting Decisions: The Role of Prefactual Attitudes,Subjective Norms,and Resistance to Temptation

This article investigates cognitive and motivational decision processes in the pursuit of dieting goals and implements the theory of trying in a field study. The theory of trying is an extension of the theory of planned behavior and investigates the effects on intentions of (a) 3 prefactual attitudes (attitudes toward success, failure, and the process of goal striving), (b) subjective norms, and (c) perceived behavioral control (i.e., resistance to temptation). Dieting decisions of 609 adult women were studied. Perceived behavioral control in the form of resistance to temptation was found to interact with subjective norms to influence intentions, and the 3 forms of prefactual attitudes had additive effects on intentions.     

Factors Influencing L2 Self-repair Behavior: The Role of L2 Proficiency,Attentional Control and L1 Self-repair Behavior

Journal of Psycholinguistic Research - Self-repairs, that is revisions of speech that speakers themselves initiate and complete (Salonen and Laakso in J Child Lang 36:859, 2009....     

Disclosing Extra-Dyadic Involvement (EDI): Understanding Attitudes, Subjective Norms, and Perceived Behavioral Control

Extra-dyadic involvement (EDI) is a complex issue that affects many individuals, couples, and families. One important, relatively unexplored issue concerns the disclosure of EDI. Despite some scholarly discourse on whether disclosure should be facilitated in a therapeutic context (e.g., Butler et al. in J Marital Fam Ther 35:125–143, 2009; Butler et al. in Am J Fam Ther 36:265–283, 2008), empirical research has not studied the intrapersonal or interpersonal processes related to disclosure. In this study, we explored potential factors involved in the decision to disclose EDI by looking at the relationships among attitudes towards EDI (in terms of perceived justifications and costs), subjective norms (obligation to disclose), and perceived behavioral control (difficulty) associated with EDI disclosure. Our sample included 337 individuals enrolled in at least one university course at one of three geographically distinct universities. Findings indicate that more permissive attitudes towards EDI are not significantly associated to the perceived difficulty in disclosing EDI or the obligation associated with disclosing EDI involving sexual intercourse. However, more permissive attitudes are related to lower felt obligation to disclose EDI that does not involve direct sexual intercourse. Conversely, more restrictive attitudes towards EDI (perceived severity, degree of perceived upset, and how detrimental it is perceived to be to the relationship) predicted greater difficulty but also greater obligation in disclosing all forms of EDI. Specific implications of these findings, including potential implications for therapy, are discussed. Overall, this study provides preliminary information regarding potentially useful factors to consider in understanding the EDI disclosure process that may also be useful in developing intervention points in therapy.     

Sex Role Identity, Androgyny, and Sex Role Transcendence: A Sex Role Strain Analysis

This paper first reviews three different theoretical constructs concerning the psychological significance of sex role related characteristics in personality functioning: sex role identity, androgyny, and sex role transcendence. A new conceptual analysis concerning sex-typing, sex role strain analysis, is presented. According to this analysis, the relationship between sex role related personality characteristics and psychological adjustment, especially self-esteem, is moderated by two variables: perception of the ideal member of the same sex, and sex role salience. These two variables', taken in conjunction with real self-concept, generate five sex role strain outcomes. The constructs of sex role identity, androgyny, and sex role transcendence are interpreted in terms of this sex role strain analysis. The implications of this analysis for current research and for understanding the dynamics of both individual and social change in sex roles are briefly described.     

The Prediction of Household Recycling of Newspapers: The Role of Attitudes,Intentions, and Situational Factors1

The present study was designed to examine differences between respondents who recycled during a 2-week observation period and those who did not. Of interest was the ability of factors drawn from Ajzen and Madden's (1986) theory of planned behavior and situational factors such as perceptions of borough councils' recycling programs to predict who would recycle. It was found that, although attitudes and intentions to recycle household newspapers were significant predictors of recycling behavior, factors associated with the inconvenience of recycling and the programs provided by borough councils, as well as respondents' past recycling behavior, were also significant predictors.     

The Relationship of Sex, Sex Role, and Mental Health

Mental health differences due to sex, sex-role identification, and sex-role attitudes were investigated using 109 undergraduate students. Females reported higher levels of depression and anxiety. Both males and females with more liberal scores on the Attitudes Toward Women Scale scored higher on the Well-Being Scale of the California Psychological Inventory. No differences due to androgyny were found.     

Employment Status and Sex Role Attitudes in Middle-class Suburban Mothers

Twenty-one employed and 31 nonemployed suburban mothers of 2nd and 6th grade children were administered the Bern Sex Role Inventory (BSRI), Welledey Role Orientation Scale (WROS), and items from the Traditional Family Inventory (TFI items). Employed mothers agreed with more nontraditional attitudes on the WROS and described themselves in more masculine or androgynous terms than did nonempldyed mothers. These differences were not affected by grade or sex of child. While the directionality of effect could not be established, it was clear that these employed women viewed themselves and their roles as wives and mothers differently than did their nonemployed counterparts. This was true despite differences in conditions of employment, and despite a more traditional overall attitude among these women than has been reported in studies using younger, upper middle-class university women. In this study, mothers employed part time were more traditional in their responses to TFI items concerned with child rearing attitudes than were mothers employed full time. Again, while directionality of effect could not be established, the decision to work part time and thus spend more time with the children is compatible with a more traditional attitude. The usefulness of these easily administered measures in dividing groups of women for further research on sex roles outside university communities is apparent.     

Achieving Safety: Safer Sex, Communication, and Desire among Young Gay Men

Conceptualizations of safer sex practices among young gay men (YGM) are frequently structured around communication between partners and the subsequent utilization or absence of condoms in a sexual encounter. Drawing on a sample of 34 in-depth interviews with YGM, ages 18 to 24, we explore the ways in which conceptualizations and definitions of safer sex are discussed and enacted. Placing attention on their safer sex practices, we analyze the conversations that do and do not occur among YGM and their partners, including the strategies (e.g., negotiated safety, condom communication and negotiation) that are commonly perceived as most useful by YGM. We provide recommendations regarding how to craft safer sex messages for YGM by considering their competing demands.     

The Role of Intentions, Social Norms, and Attitudes in the Performance of Dental Flossing: A Test of the Theory of Reasoned Action

The theory of reasoned action proposed by Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) was tested as an explanatory model for a preventive dental behavior, dental flossing, in a sample of 65 undergraduate students. Intentions and direct attitudes were found to be the strongest predictors of flossing. Social influences exerted their influence by way of direct attitudes. Flossers (>1/week) and non-flossers (<1/week) were observed to agree with belief statements referring to the health value of flossing. However, statements referring to the social and sensory aspects of flossing were found to effectively discriminate the two groups. Implications for health education strategies are discussed in which a greater focus is placed on more immediate social and sensory benefits of flossing rather than on long-term health benefits.     

Extra‐Role Behavior among Mexican Employees: The Impact of LMX,Group Acceptance,and Job Attitudes

The current field study took place within a Mexican work setting, consisting of 100 white‐collar employees representing a variety of professional job categories. The study investigated the direct effect of the supervisor–employee relationship (leader–member exchange) quality and group acceptance on employees' propensity to engage in activities beyond their formal work roles (extra‐role behavior). The mediating influences of the employees' job satisfaction level and organizational commitment were also taken into consideration when accounting for extra‐role behavior. Results suggest that relationships Mexican employees share with their supervisor have a direct impact on their extra‐role behavior. Social exchange, key to both extra‐role behavior and leader–member exchange, is proposed as the operating mechanism associating the two constructs. Results also indicate that organizational commitment plays a partial mediating role between leader–member exchange and extra‐role behavior.