Parasites and promiscuity: Acute disease salience leads to more restricted sexual attitudes

Abstract

How does disease threat influence sexual attitudes and behaviors? Although research on the influence of disease threat on social behavior has grown considerably, the relationship between perceived disease threat and sexual attitudes remains unclear. The current preregistered study (analyzed N = 510), investigated how experimental reminders of disease threat influence attitudes and anticipated future behaviors pertaining to short-term sexual relationships, using an ecologically valid disease prime. The central preregistered prediction was that experimental manipulation of disease threat would lead to less favorable attitudes and inclinations toward sexual promiscuity. Results were consistent with this preregistered prediction, relative to both a neutral control condition and a non-disease threat condition. These experimental results were buttressed by the finding that dispositional variation in worry about disease threat predicted less favorable attitudes and inclinations toward short-term sexual relationships. This study represents the first preregistered investigation of the implications of acute disease threat for sexual attitudes.

Motives for security and sexual activity among single individuals at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic

“…STI transmission) are likely to inhibit their sexual responses, have lower sexual desire, are less inclined to seek out sexual stimuli, have less positive attitudes towards casual sex, are less prone to sexual risks, and have greater germ aversion (Bancroft et al, 2009;Duncan et al, 2009;Murray et al, 2013;Velten, 2017). A similar effect was observed when a COVID-19 threat was experimentally made more salient to participants (Moran et al, 2021). As motives, attitudes, and actions towards sexual behaviours determine personal health, examining regulatory focus might be crucial to understanding the implications of enacting (or not) sexual behaviours during health-threatening times.…”

“…Bowling et al, 2021). For example, individuals are less willing to have casual sex when they perceive themselves to be more susceptible to infectious diseases (Duncan et al, 2009), when the threat of infection is more salient to them (Moran et al, 2021;Murray et al, 2013), and when they are more focused on prevention (Rodrigues et al, 2019). As individuals more focused on prevention feel less safe having sex with casual partners (Rodrigues et al, 2020) and are more attentive to health risks (Rodrigues et al, 2019), they might be less motivated to have sex in general -and not only during the pandemic -as a strategy to preserve their health and avoid risky sexual behaviours.…”

Was she wearing red? The function of victim‐blaming in women's intrasexual competition

“…For example, sociosexually unrestricted men and women exhibit heightened vigilance toward perceived intrasexual threats in the service of identifying likely rivals to their mating goals (e.g., Brown & Sacco, 2017; Sacco, Jones, DeBruine & Hugenberg, 2012). The notion of victim‐blaming being heightened among those motivated by purity concerns could make it advantageous to consider orthogonal motives of disease avoidance that often foster a derision of promiscuous sexual behaviors (Baboli & Karimi‐Malekabadi, 2020; Moran, Kerry, Goh & Murray, 2021).…”

Technology & behavioral changes mediation for personnel safety intentions: Crisis in theoretical framework.

“…Many individuals minimize their casual sex desires due to health anxiety. Many researchers supported this point of less attitude toward physical relationships due to anxiety about getting the disease ( Moran, Kerry, et al., 2021 ). Our research focused on whether health anxiety leads to increased use of technology and behavioral changes, which can enhance their safety intentions.…”