The Effects of Male Attractiveness and Sexual Attitudes on Women’s Risk Perception

Abstract

This study examined the effects of male attractiveness, sexual attitudes, and victimization history on women's ratings of sexual risk. Women with more liberal sexual attitudes rated vignettes as less sexually risky than women with more conservative sexual attitudes. There was an interaction between situational risk and attractiveness, suggesting the relationship between attractiveness and sexual risk ratings varies across high and low situational risk. Findings emphasize the importance of using high and low risk situations to evaluate sexual risk perception and of investigating variables that may moderate women's risk perception.