ANTICIPATED REGRET AND PRECAUTIONARY SEXUAL-BEHAVIOR

This study investigated the impact of anticipated regret on precaution ary sexual behavior. Results show that anticipated regret predicts a s ignificant and independent proportion of variance in expectations abou t future contraceptive behavior. A simple model combining attitudes, s ubjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and anticipated regret explained 65% of the variance in behavioral expectations. Behavioral e xpectations explained 34% of the variance in contraceptive behavior of respondents who had casual sex in the 4 weeks following the first ses sion of the study. Implications for our understanding of precautionary sexual behavior and for campaigns aiming to increase safer sexual pra ctices are discussed.