Research on attachment and
condom use has been limited to correlational studies of self-report measures,
yielding inconsistent results.
Here, we examined the causal effects of
attachment priming on self-reported condom use attitudes and an observational
measure of condom acquisition behavior. In three experiments, participants were
exposed to one of three attachment primes (security, anxiety, or avoidance) or
a control prime.
For Study 1, participants in the security and anxiety
conditions preferred condom non-use to a greater extent, compared to
participants in the avoidance condition. This effect was replicated in Study 2,
and was mediated by perceptions of sexual health threat. In Study 3, the effect
of security priming on condom acquisition behavior was eliminated through the
use of a framing manipulation, though the effect of primed attachment on condom
use attitudes was not significant.
A meta-analysis, however, revealed that the
predicted effects of attachment priming were consistent across the three
studies, supporting the role of attachment in evaluations of condom use.
Priming attachment security or anxiety leads participants to perceive their
sexual partners as less of a sexual health threat, resulting in a devaluation
of condom use. Primed security also reduced condom acquisition behavior, though
this negative effect eliminated by framing condoms as protecting a partner's
sexual health.
Overall, these studies suggest that relational factors, such as
attachment, require greater consideration when studying sexual health and
designing interventions.
Purchase full article at: http://goo.gl/4vo0MH
By:
- 1Department of Psychology, University Toronto Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Road, Deerfield Hall Rm. 4098, Mississauga, ON, L5L 1C6, Canada. jksakaluk@gmail.com.
- 2Department of Psychology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA.
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