The Influence of Personality and Context on Risky Sexual Behavior among Young Adults

The present study sought to examine the relationship been alcohol and risky sexual behavior by analyzing related variables. Particularly, this study examined the relationship between context and risky sexual behavior (when participants were drinking alcohol) on an event-based level. Secondly, this study examined how certain personality traits affect risky sexual behavior in general. Finally, an interaction between context and personality was tested for its effects on risky sexual behavior. Results suggested that context plays a role in risky sexual behavior, but that personality was not an important factor. Interaction effects were not found between these variables. Future research on risky sexual behavior could benefit from including the context of sexual encounters in the research design. PERSONALITY, CONTEXT, AND RISKY SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 3 Personality and Health Behavior Among Young Adults Young people aged 15-24 acquire half of all new sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Adolescents and young adults (15-24) are at higher risk than older adults for contracting STIs for a combination of reasons (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013). Additionally, 82.5% of people aged 15-24 have used alcohol and 16.5% of these people meet the criteria for alcohol dependence (Anthony et al., 1994). Studies (e.g. Dermen et al., 1998) have shown that these two variables may be related. Logan, Cole, and Leukefeld (2002) found that alcohol use in sexual situations is associated with a higher likelihood of sexual intercourse with casual partners and lower probability of condom use. However, other studies have found no relationship between the two variables (Testa and Collins, 1997; Weinhardt and Carey, 2000). Leigh and Stall (1993) posited that the inconsistent nature of this relationship could be due in part to factors that act as third variables, which influence both alcohol use and sexual risk behavior. Some research has lent support to the idea that risky behavior is associated with a number of personality traits. For example, Cooper et al. (2000) suggested that risk behavior is driven by neuroticism (with the motive to regulate negative affect) and that extraversion drives the use of risky behaviors in order to enhance positive affective experiences (Cooper et al., 2000). However, Cooper et al. found that the relationship between personality and risky behavior is extremely complex. For example, being extroverted increased the overall levels of risky sex practices, but primarily only if the individual was also impulsive. Schmiege, Levin, and Bryan (2009) found that low self-esteem was significantly associated with risky sexual behavior whether or not there was a positive or negative relationship between alcohol and risky sex, which was consistent with prior research in this domain (Bryan et PERSONALITY, CONTEXT, AND RISKY SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 4 al., 2004). Other personality traits, such as impulsivity and low self-efficacy have been found to be associated with risky sexual behavior (Noar et al., 2006; Robbins and Bryan, 2004). Finally, the role of context has also been found to be important in the relationship between alcohol consumption and risky sexual behavior. An important contextual factor that moderates this relationship is the type of partner (Morojele et al., 2006). Specifically, alcohol tends to impact condom use with casual sexual partners more than with serious partners. Additionally, Senchak, Leonard, and Greene (1998) found that individuals drank more when they were in larger social gatherings. This suggests that physical location at the time of drinking has an effect on the amount of alcohol consumed, and thus may impact risk behavior while drinking. Perhaps examining personality and context by themselves do not give complete pictures of the third variable relationship between alcohol consumption and sexual risk. The goal of this paper is to explore how these two variables interact on risky sexual behavior. There is scant research that involves the role of location at the time of drinking and how that affects the relationship between personality and risky sexual behavior. The present study aims to examine whether or not individuals higher on at-risk personality traits (e.g. higher impulsivity, sensation seeking, extroversion, neuroticism, positive alcohol outcome expectancies, and lower selfesteem) are affected by the context of their drinking more so than individuals who are lower on these traits. If this is true, then it may be possible to better target interventions for alcohol risk reduction and sexual risk reduction to people with personality traits that place them at higher risk for engaging in these behaviors, and by including intervention components that focus on risky contextual circumstances. PERSONALITY, CONTEXT, AND RISKY SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 5 The contextual hypothesis of the present study is that those who drink and engage in intercourse at a party will engage in more risky behaviors than those who are drinking and having intercourse on a date. The personality hypothesis is that those with certain personality characteristics (higher impulsivity, sensation seeking, extroversion, neuroticism, positive alcohol outcome expectancies, and lower self-esteem) will engage in more risky sexual behaviors in general. Finally, the interaction hypothesis of this study is that context interacts with at-risk personality traits (e.g. higher impulsivity, sensation seeking, extroversion, neuroticism, positive alcohol outcome expectancies, and lower self-esteem) such that the influence of larger social contexts (a party) involving alcohol on risky sexual behavior will be much stronger for individuals who are higher on at-risk personality traits than individuals who are lower on at-risk personality traits.