THE RELATIONSHIP OF MORAL REASONING AND AIDS KNOWLEDGE TO RISKY SEXUAL-BEHAVIOR

Two hypotheses were tested in this study: (a) moral reasoning and risk y sexual behaviors are inversely correlated; (b) the relationship betw een AIDS knowledge and sexual behavior is mediated by moral reasoning such that AIDS knowledge and risky sexual behaviors are inversely corr elated for higher-level moral reasoners but not for lower-level reason ers. Subjects were 103 undergraduate students who completed an instrum ent assessing moral reasoning, the Defining Issues Test, and two quest ionnaires assessing sexual behavior and knowledge about AIDS. Factor a nalysis identified five sexual risk-taking factors with alphas of .60 or higher. Results supported both hypotheses: (a) Risk taking during s exual intercourse (i.e., lower likelihood of using condoms) and risk t aking during anal sex were significantly inversely correlated with mor al reasoning; (b) For high moral reasoners, two measures of sexual ris k taking were significantly negatively correlated with knowledge about AIDS: as knowledge increased, risk taking during sexual intercourse a nd engagement in a variety of sexual experiences decreased. The revers e relationship was true for low moral reasoners. Implications for mora l development theory and research as well as for AIDS prevention campa igns are discussed.