Blurring emotional safety with physical safety in AIDS and STD risk estimations: The casual/regular partner distinction

Research on the sexual behavior of young adults has documented a casual/reg ular partner distinction in terms of condom use and perceived risk of contr acting sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). How this population distinguis hes between the 2 partner types has not been known, making it impossible to assess the rationality of this strategy. In the present study, college stu dents' conceptions of casual vs, regular partners were explored and used to create 3 sexual partner scenarios: casual, regular with insufficient risk information (regular emotionally safe), and regular with sufficient risk in formation (regular objectively safe). Participants rated the target partner in terms of emotional safety, AIDS/STD risk, and likelihood of condom use. Results showed participants to be blurring emotional with physical safety; i.e., employing an emotionally based strategy in rating perceived risk.