Values and Their Relationship to HIV/AIDS Risk Behavior Among Late-Adolescent and Young Adult College Students

Abstract

It is assumed that values are strong controllingvariables that influence behavior in enduring andsignificant ways. The value priorities of thosereporting higher-risk sexual behavior were hypothesized to differ significantly from those reportinglower-risk behavior. The Rokeach Value Survey and asexual behavior questionnaire were administered to 761late-adolescent and young adult college students. Higher-risk respondents reported significantlydifferent value priorities than did lower-riskrespondents, including greater importance accorded tothe value An Exciting Life, and lesser importanceattached to the values Self-Controlled, Helpful, Honest,Loving, Equality, and A World at Peace. Factor analysesrevealed that risky sexual behavior was inverselyrelated to certain clusters of values associated with caution and concern for others. Womenattached greater importance to such values as Helpful,Equality, Loving, Honest, Health, Responsible, andWisdom. Values predicted significant amounts of variance in risky sexual behaviors. Value differencessuggested that higher-risk behavior may be positivelyassociated with risk-taking, impulsivity, and sensationseeking, and negatively associated with other-oriented reasoning (i.e., concern for others). The valueself-confrontation procedure is discussed as a potentialHIV/AIDS prevention strategy.