Attitudes Toward People In Exclusive Dating Relationships Who Initiate Condom Use

Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, The, Spring, 2000 by Jennifer Davidson-Harden, William A. Fisher, Paul R. Davidson

Abstract: This study assessed attitudes toward young adults who initiate condom use in the context of exclusive dating relationships. Male and female undergraduates (N=120) were randomly assigned to read one of three scenarios in which a university aged couple engaged in sexual intercourse for the first time with each other one month into such a relationship. The scenarios differed only in that one did not mention condom use, another had the female initiate condom use, and the third had male initiation of condom use. In all cases, it was stated that the female was using oral contraception. The participants rated their perceptions of the characters on scales designed for that purpose. Contrary to hypotheses developed from a review of the relevant literature, individuals who initiated condom use, and their partners, were rated as being more rather than less responsible than in the no condom condition. Ratings of commitment to partner, kindness, and social attractiveness were unaffected (i.e. not diminished) by condom initiation or use. Both initiator and partner were rated as more sexually knowledgeable, but not more sexually experienced, than in the no condom condition. The sex of the rater had little impact on the foregoing assessments but sex of character had an effect on pooled ratings for responsibility (female character higher) and sexual experience and number of partners (male character higher). In general, the findings suggest that the undergraduates in this study looked favourably rather than unfavourably on individuals of either sex who initiated condom use in an exclusive dating relationship even when oral contraception was already being used.

Key Words: University students Attitudes toward condom use Dating relationships Sexually transmitted infections HIV/AIDS

INTRODUCTION

Various reports throughout the 1990s have documented the continuing unacceptably high risk of HIV/AIDS among young adult heterosexual populations (Catania, Coates, & Kegeles, 1994; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1999; Hawkins, Gray, & Hawkins, 1995). Other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are known to be disproportionately common in this age group. For example, incidence rates for chlamydia in Canada are highest among 15- to 19-year-olds and 20- to 24-year-olds (Patrick, 1997). Since it is often asymptomatic and may thus go undetected and untreated, chlamydia is an important precursor for pelvic inflammatory disease and related sequelae (MacDonald & Brunham, 1997).

Consistent use of condoms is highly effective in protecting against HIV and other STIs (Hawkins et al., 1995) and strategies for reducing the incidence of such infections have thus been widely promulgated (Fisher, 1997; Maticka-Tyndale, 1997). The literature makes it clear that simply knowing how HIV and other STIs are transmitted and prevented is seldom, in and of itself, sufficient to motivate most young people to engage in safer sexual behaviours such as consistent condom use (Misovich, Fisher, & Fisher, 1997; Raj & Pollack, 1995). A further impediment to safer sex practices among some young heterosexuals is their apparent denial that they could be at risk of infection and their perception that HIV/AIDS is distant and foreign to their world (Thompson, Anderson, Freedman, & Swan, 1996).

Young heterosexuals in exclusive dating relationships may be particularly prone to such denial. A number of studies have indicated that a majority of such couples do not use condoms consistently, some do not use condoms at all, and those who do use condoms at the beginning of a relationship may eventually stop doing so as the relationship becomes more "committed" or longer established (Ellen, Cahn, Eyre & Boyer, 1996; Misovich et al., 1997; Reisen, & Poppen, 1995). The failure to use condoms at all may be related to the previously-stated perception of some young people that they are not at risk for HIV infection (MacDonald & Smith, 1990) whereas the cessation of condom use as the relationship becomes more established may be the result of the female's beginning to use the birth control pill (Hammer, Fisher, Fitzgerald, & Fisher, 1996; MacDonald et al., 1990; Misovich et al., 1997). Some studies indicate that the pill is the preferred contraceptive method among university couples (Raj & Pollack, 1995). Couples in dating relationships may thus see condoms more as a form of pregnancy prevention (until the female goes on the pill) than as protection against STIs (Cooper, Agocha, & Powers, 1999). To the extent that young adults practice serial monogamy, their attitudes and practices in relation to condom use will determine their risk of acquiring or transmitting asymptomatic STIs in these sequential "committed" relationships.

The present study examined the possible contribution of attitudinal factors to the initiation or avoidance of condom use in committed relationships among heterosexual university students. Despite the efforts of public health programs to promote concurrent use of the pill and condom, it is plausible that social biases associated with condoms may be an impediment to condom use in committed relationships. For example, some research has shown that individuals who carry condoms are more likely to be viewed as having questionable moral character and/or an extensive sexual past (Loxley, 1996). Ellen et al. (1996) suggest that many people see condoms as the contraceptive to be used either for one night stands or in situations in which the partner's character is unknown or in which a continuing relationship is not important. In these cases, one might assume that both partners would see condom use as socially acceptable either because of an acknowledged risk of STI infection or because they were not in or anticipating an ongoing relationship with each other that could be endangered by raising the subject. External observers might be expected to have a similar approving attitude toward initiation of condom use in such situations. Conversely, a person in a continuing or committed sexual relationship who wanted to initiate condom use for the purpose of reducing their risk of STI or HIV, might well be apprehensive about doing so if they thought it might offend their partner--something they would consider unacceptable (Misovich et al., 1997; Williams et al., 1992). While it is unclear whether external observers would approve or disapprove of a person who initiated condom use in this "committed relationship" situation, it is possible that the actual person in the situation might anticipate such disapproval and thus be reinforced in her/his uncertainty about initiating.