Sexually conservative men are more swayed by sexual images than more
adventurous dudes, according to a new study that might help explain why
the sexually conservative, paradoxically, tend to take sexual risks.
The study suggests that men who have no intention of having casual sex
nevertheless become more willing to do so after exposure to images of
pretty women in bikinis. This willingness without intention may explain a
lack of foresight that leads to sex without protection, the study
researchers write today (June 19) in the British Journal of Health
Psychology.
"Think of this as similar to young teenagers
drinking," study researcher Megan Roberts, a psychologist at Brown
University, said in a statement. "Most don't go out explicitly intending
to get drunk, but are willing if they are offered alcohol at a party.
Likewise, many adults do not intend to have casual sex, but would be
willing to do so if presented with the opportunity." [50 Sultry Facts About Sex]
Studies dating back to the 1980s have found that people with conservative attitudes toward sex
have less intercourse than the sexually liberal, as might be expected.
But when the sexually conservative do get busy, they're more likely to
take risks, such as not using protection against pregnancy or sexually
transmitted infections.
A sexual mystery
This puzzle confused health researchers. To get the bottom of why
people behave so strangely, Roberts and her colleagues first asked 75
college-age men if they intended to have casual sex with a stranger or
acquaintance in the next six months. Twenty-eight of them (37 percent)
said no.
The researchers then had the men do a
word-identification task, into which the researchers had inserted
subliminal images of either pretty bikini-clad women or neutral
photographs, such as those showing lightening bolts. The images flashed
onscreen for only 8 milliseconds, too few to register consciously.
After the subliminal image presentation, the men completed another
questionnaire, this one including a vignette about going home with a
woman from a party. The guys were asked how likely they were to engage
in a variety of sexual acts with this near-stranger.
Intention versus willingness
The results confirmed that intention and willingness don't always go
hand-in-hand. The men who said they had no intention of having casual
sex became much more likely to report a willingness to do so — but only
if they'd seen the subliminal sexy images. The guys who were already
interested in casual sex weren't swayed by the images.
To confirm the findings, the researchers repeated the experiment with
112 men ages 18 to 57 recruited online. The only major difference in the
second experiment was that the images weren't subliminal; instead,
participants were told they were rating images for an ad campaign.
Again, some saw sexy women, while others saw neutral photographs.
As in the first study, the sexually conservative became more willing to
indulge in casual sex if they'd seen the bikini-clad hotties.
"Compared to men who intend to have casual sex, those who didn't showed
an increase in willingness to do so if they had viewed sexual images,"
Roberts said. "This was even true for the older men who were in
committed relationships. Overall, this suggests that sexually
conservative men can be more swayed by subtle sexual cues."
The
findings suggest that in the real world, the sexually conservative might
not plan to have sex, Roberts and her colleagues wrote. When confronted
with the opportunity, though, they might be relatively more swayed to
do the deed than the sexually liberal — and because they haven't planned
on having sex, they're probably less likely to be prepared with condoms or other protection.