Disinhibition and Alcohol Use as Predictors of Risky Sexual Behavior
Open Access
- Author:
- Shishkoff, Gabrielle E
- Area of Honors:
- Psychology
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Stephen Jeffrey Wilson, Thesis Supervisor
Kenneth N. Levy, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- risky sexual behavior
alcohol use
disinhibition
personality - Abstract:
- Sexual risk-taking has many potential negative ramifications, including increased risk for sexually transmitted infections, unplanned pregnancy, as well as psychological consequences, making it important to study predictors of this behavior. Additionally, university students are known to have high rates of risky sexual behavior (RSB), making them an important demographic to study. Previous literature has shown that a relationship exists between personality, alcohol use, and risky sexual behavior, but the research has some discrepancy about the exact nature of the relationship. While some research has suggested that personality is a cause of RSB and alcohol use, other studies suggest that alcohol use is the true predictor of RSB and any relationship between personality and RSB is due to the fact that personality and alcohol use are related. The current study looks to fill in a gap in the previous research by determining if personality accounts for increased RSB beyond the effects of increased alcohol use. The hypothesis was that personality would predict RSB beyond the effects of alcohol use, in that disinhibited individuals would show higher RSB than inhibited individuals, regardless of alcohol use. An interaction between alcohol use and personality was also predicted, in that inhibited individuals would show a stronger relationship between alcohol use and RSB, whereas disinhibited individuals would be high in RSB regardless of alcohol use. The current study also examined gender differences in RSB at the subfactor level, an analysis not commonly done in previous research. A better understanding of how gender predicts RSB will also be useful in targeting interventions and preventing negative health consequences. While the original hypothesis was not supported, the research did contribute to an understanding of factors contributing to RSB, and an interesting gender difference was found with one subfactor of RSB.