What Will People Think of You for Asking to Use a Condom?
Study looks at perceptions created by different condom negotiation strategies
How will people perceive you for asking to use a condom? Research shows it depends on how you ask.
In an article published in Sex Roles, researchers looked at how people respond to common condom negotiation strategies. In one study, they asked 150 undergraduate students to watch videos of three situations where a man or a woman suggested the use of a condom before an encounter. They were then asked for their opinions on how the partner viewed the proposer, as well as the likelihood that the couples went on to have sex with a condom after the conversation. Researchers found that participants believed the couples indeed did have sex and used a condom as requested, and that the partner who proposed to use one — whether it was a man or a woman — was more mature, and less romantic and promiscuous than the partner who did not.
In their second study, the authors asked 193 undergraduate students to read stories with three different condom negotiation strategies that a woman used before a sexual encounter. In one story, the woman refused to have sex without a condom altogether; in another story, the woman explained that she wanted to use a condom because she was concerned about…
