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Meaning In Sexual Behavior: Associating Personal Constructs With Condom Use, David W. Indest

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Thirty-seven female and 30 male heterosexual undergraduates responded first to vignettes of sexual behavior in which they were asked to describe the partners' behaviors using their own personal constructs and using the researcher-provided constructs safe sex, unsafe sex, intimate, and impersonal; participants then responded to questions about condom use. Sixty-one percent of participants reported using condoms at least 75% of the time, and 64% reported use on last intercourse. Women reported a higher percentage of intercourse without condoms than did men. Within-subject principal components analysis was used to identify the extent to which an individual's personal constructs loaded …