M. Hynie et Je. Lydon, SEXUAL ATTITUDES AND CONTRACEPTIVE BEHAVIOR REVISITED - CAN THERE BE TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING, The Journal of sex research, 33(2), 1996, pp. 127-134
A longitudinal study was performed to explore a possible curvilinear r
elationship between sexual attitudes and contraceptive behavior. A com
munity sample of 62 women recorded their sexual and contraceptive beha
vior for five consecutive weeks using daily diary reports. During an i
nitial testing session, participants were asked to report their contra
ceptive behavior in the Last month and to predict their contraceptive
behavior for the coming month. Women reported using less effective con
traceptive methods during the five weeks than they had for the month p
rior to the study and than they had predicted for the month concurrent
with the study. Both the consistency and effectiveness of women's con
traceptive behavior over the five weeks was found to have a quadratic
(inverted-U) relationship with their sexual attitude, as measured by t
he Sexual Opinion Survey. The results are discussed with respect to bi
ases inherent in subjective retrospective data and the possible link b
etween an extremely positive emotional orientation toward sexuality an
d willingness to engage in high-risk sexual behavior.