582 undergraduates were asked to write down their favorite color and choose a number from 0 to 9. The color blue and the number seven were chosen most frequently by both sexes and races, supporting Simon's (1971) “blue-seven” phenomenon. Compared with women, men chose red and blue more frequently. Women showed a preference for yellow, purple, black, and less frequent colors more often than men. White subjects chose blue and green more often than black subjects, while black subjects showed a preference for red, purple, black, and less frequent colors. There was little relationship between color preferences and scores on the Luscher Color Test.

This study tested an expanded version of the Health Belief Model (HBM) in the prediction of condom use during vaginal intercourse among African American college students. Results from regression analyses indicated that only the core HBM explained a significant amount of variance in condom use. Perceived barriers and gender were the only significant predictors of condom use. Perceived barriers were found to mediate the correlation between gender and condom use. Specifically, controlling for perceived barriers, the tendency for men to use condoms increased. Consistent with past research findings, high levels of HIV/AIDS risk knowledge was not significantly correlated with condom use. The findings suggest a need to consider additional (e.g., sociocultural) factors associated with African American sexual decision making and condom use to develop applicable conceptual models and HIV/AIDS prevention approaches.

The present study examined relationship status, psychological orientation toward sexual risk taking, and other characteristics as potential correlates of risky sexual behavior in a sample of 223 heterosexual African American college students. Risky sexual behavior was investigated as a multinomial variable (i.e., abstinence, consistent condom use, inconsistent condom use, or noncondom use) to determine whether differentiation of levels of risky sexual behavior yielded meaningful psychological or demographic patterns. The hypotheses were (a) students who are in a long-term relationship are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior, and (b) students who report inconsistent condom use differ from those who report noncondom use on demographic and psychological variables. The first hypothesis was partially supported. The second hypothesis was supported. The findings suggest that HIV/AIDS interventions need to take into consideration different levels of sexual risk taking with regard to condom use behavior among African American college students.