Social anxiety, sexual behavior, and contraceptive use
Leary, M.R.; Dobbins, S.E.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 45(6): 1347-1354
1983
ISSN/ISBN: 0022-3514 PMID: 6663447 DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.45.6.1347Document Number: 399830
260 college students (170 women and 90 men) at Denison University in Ohio completed a questionnaire that provided information regarding their sexual experience, knowledge, and attitudes; their self-evaluations on dimensions related to sexuality; and their level of heterosocial anxiety (anxiety experienced in social interactions with members of the opposite sex). Students ranged in age from 17 to 22 years, with a mean of 19.1 years. Compared with subjects low in heterosocial anxiety, highly anxious respondents were less sexually experienced, engaged in sexual activity less frequently, had fewer sexual partners, were less likely to have engaged in oral sex, expressed a higher degree of apprehension about sex, and had a somewhat higher incidence of sexual dysfunctions. In addition, low socially anxious women tended to use the pill, whereas highly anxious women prefered the condom. High and low heterosocially anxious respondents also differed on self-ratings related to their sexuality but did not differ in their attitudes or knowledge regarding sex. Consistent with expectations, the sexual behavior of individuals who scored high versus low in heterosocial anxiety differed on nearly every dimension examined, and these differences were generally obtained for both female and male respondents. The only surprising finding involved differences in contraceptive use by high and low socially anxious women. It had been expected that sexually active women who are high in heterosocial anxiety would choose birth control pills as a contraceptive method. They clearly demonstrated a preference for the condom.