Safe sexual intentions and behavior among heterosexuals and homosexual men: Testing the theory of reasoned action

Abstract

Abstract The purpose of this study was to test the relationships between norms, attitudes, intentions, and behavior proposed by the theory of reasoned action for safe sexual behavior. The research comprised two studies. The first was a study of condom use among heterosexual students (126 females and 99 males), while the second focused on whether heterosexuals (85 males and 85 females) and homosexual men (N = 82) from the general community engaged in the safe sex strategies they considered to be effective. Subjects first completed measures of past behavior, norms, attitudes, intentions, and then returned a follow-up measure of actual behavior after their next sexual encounter. Results indicated that intentions alone predicted behavior for all groups of subjects, and that past behavior predicted both intention and behavior. In addition, attitudes and norms significantly predicted intentions for the student sample and to some extent for the heterosexuals in the community sample, but did not predict the inten...