EFFECT OF SEXUAL MOTIVATION ON MENS RISK PERCEPTION FOR SEXUALLY-TRANSMITTED DISEASE - THERE MUST BE 50 WAYS TO JUSTIFY A LOVER

Recent research has incorporated situational factors into assessment o f risk. Working from a rational appraisal framework, however, these st udies have not emphasized contextual features that might introduce mot ivated risk assessment. In the current study, participants (N = 40 mal e undergraduates) lowered their risk perceptions for STDs following th e induction of a sexual motivation. In an initial baseline condition, participants estimated the risk of contracting STDs from partners with relatively high- or low-risk sexual histories. In a subsequent trial, participants repeated the imagery task while viewing photographs that were high or low in sex appeal. As predicted, participants reduced th eir risk perceptions when they viewed photographs high in sex appeal. The only necessary precondition was the presence of nondiagnostic info rmation from which they could construct biased risk estimates.