Predicting high risk sexual behaviour in heterosexual and homosexual men: the roles of impulsivity and sensation seeking
Section snippets
Participants
Separate samples of 112 heterosexual and 104 homosexual men were recruited for an anonymous, unpaid study of sexual behaviour by fliers and oral presentations by the first author at a variety of venues in the New York metropolitan area. These venues included colleges, adult education classes, community centres, community groups, and gyms. The resulting heterosexual and homosexual samples were comparable with respect to education (69.3 vs. 80.6% having at least a bachelor's degree), relationship
Materials
Participants completed a demographic data form and four previously validated instruments in public spaces (e.g. classrooms, reception areas) at their recruitment sites. They typically did so directly following an oral recruitment presentation or during a routine visit for those recruited by flier. Consequently no special travel was required for participants. Impulsivity was assessed with the Eysenck Impulsivity Scale (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1977), a 24-item measure that is unifactorial, has a
Results
Comparison of the two samples indicates that they did not differ on impulsivity, frequency of alcohol use prior to unprotected sex, frequency of unprotected sex (homosexual mean=5.2 [S.D.=14.1], heterosexual mean=7.5 [S.D.=17.3]), number of unprotected sex partners (homosexual mean=0.47 [S.D.=0.61], heterosexual mean=0.38 [S.D.=0.49]), all t(214)s < 1.85, P>0.05, or proportion engaging in unprotected sex (32.1% of heterosexuals, 38.5% of homosexuals; χ2(1)=0.94, P> 0.05). These means and
Discussion
The findings of the present study provide mixed support for the role of the personality variables in the prediction of high risk sexual behaviour. On the one hand, consistent with prediction and past research (e.g. Clift et al., 1993, Horvath and Zuckerman, 1993), impulsivity and sexual sensation seeking showed some associations with both of the study's indices of risky sexual behaviour, and the latter mediated the effect of drug use on risky behaviour in one sample. On the other hand,
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