Men who whine about wearing condoms -- villains of sex-ed videos, defiers of CDC reports and common sense -- might protest even louder if they think their partners are hot.
When faced with the proposition of casually sleeping with a pretty woman, men are more eager to forgo condoms, according to a new scientific survey, than if they think their fling is less attractive.
Researchers at the University of Southampton and the University of Bristol asked heterosexual men to report their desire to have unprotected sex with 20 women, based on photographs of the women's faces. The scientists discovered men were much less apt to wear a condom if they believed a hypothetical partner had a prettier face, as the researchers wrote recently in the British Medical Journal Open. The study was small, just 51 subjects, but it adds to a growing body of evidence that both men and women want to relax safe-sex standards around good-looking partners.
"Men are more willing to have condomless sex with attractive women," wrote lead author and University of Southampton public health researcher Anastasia Eleftheriou, in an email to The Washington Post. That holds true "even though they might believe that those women are more likely" to have a sexually transmitted disease, she said.
The male subjects were not hugely varied in their demographics: the 51 heterosexual men who made up the survey ranged in age from 19 to 61 years old, and all spoke English. Most men had lost their virginity at an average age of 18; the youngest was 13 and the oldest, 30. But there was quite a bit of variance in reported number of sexual partners -- the average was 10, though four responders had never had sexual intercourse and one man said he had had sex with 60 women.
While looking at a black-and-white portrait of a woman's face, each man used a sliding scale, from of 0 to 100, to rate a) the woman's attractiveness b) how likely he would be to sleep with her, if he were single c) how likely he would be to use a condom d) how many men like him, out a group of 100, would have unprotected sex with the woman and e) the odds he thought this woman had a sexually transmitted disease.
Not surprisingly, the closer a man rated a woman to 100, the higher his willingness was to have sex with her. But the study subjects were split on whether or not the attractive women were more likely to have a sexually transmitted disease.
Previous studies on perceived health and looks reflect this division, too. Some researchers have found that men view attractive women as more promiscuous, and therefore more likely to have been exposed to sexually transmitted disease; others indicate humans broadly link good looks to good health. (One evolutionary psychology theory argues that facial symmetry, a significant factor in attractiveness, indicates a high resistance to parasites. Because we want our mates to be parasite-free, symmetry becomes pretty.)
Humans make a lot of assumptions about attractiveness, and many of them do not quite hit the mark. (Beauty is not skin deep, for instance, as bone structure has a dramatic influence on what we find attractive.) In this study, the scientists reported a few surprising incongruities: Some men who rated the women at high risks for STIs -- the men who believed many other men would have unprotected sex with a woman -- also rated themselves as likely to have unprotected sex. In other words, even though the men thought having sex with a particular woman was apt to be risky, they would not take any additional measures to protect themselves.
To explain the apparent incongruity, Eleftheriou's co-author Roger Ingham, a sexual health expert at the University of Southampton, offered two possible reasons. First, it is lack of contraception as an evolutionary holdover, he wrote to The Washington Post in an email. That is, "men want to reproduce with women they find to be more attractive," he said. Or it could be that young men attach high status to having sex with attractive women, "and so are willing to take more risk to acquire this status." Or, perhaps, it is a mixture of both motivations.
When asked if the reverse would seem to hold true -- are men more likely to use condoms with women whom they find less desirable? -- Eleftheriou replied, "Yes. We found a strong correlation between the two variables that works both ways."
Eleftheriou and Ingham want to use this information to create better sex education. Ingham points out that sex ed traditionally assumes people are rational actors -- which, studies like this one show, is not the case when a man thinks about having sex with an attractive woman. Eleftheriou is exploring ways to create computer games to promote sexual health, targeted at young populations.
As mentioned, the sample size was small -- though Eleftheriou pointed out it could still detect trends. In the paper, the scientists note that the survey was taken in the presence of a female researcher, which previous studies have shown to affect male responses. Likewise, this study did not take into account alcohol or arousal, both factors when making decisions about condoms. And, finally, Ingham acknowledged that the study was limited to heterosexual males. "It would indeed be of great interest to repeat the study using men who have sex with men," he said, "to explore if similar patterns of results are obtained."
The Washington Post
Fri Jun 24 2016
Men who whine about wearing condoms might protest even louder if they think their partners are hot.
Letusan Gunung Ruang jejas ruang udara, penutupan lapangan terbang dilanjutkan
Letusan Gunung Ruang di Wilayah Sulawesi Utara terus menjejaskan ruang udara pada Jumaat, memberi kesan kepada keselamatan penerbangan.
Beras ditemui di tapak pelupusan sampah tidak selamat dimakan - KPKM
Beras yang didakwa dibuang di tapak pelupusan sampah di Temerloh, Pahang didapati telah rosak dan tidak sesuai serta tidak selamat untuk dimakan.
Boeing hasrat tawarkan kereta terbang di Asia menjelang 2030
Kereta terbang ini dijangka menawarkan penyelesaian untuk pelbagai bandar di Asia yang sering sesak dengan kenderaan.
Piala Thomas: Tze Yong digugurkan, Hon Jian isi kekosongan - Rexy
Ng Tze Yong disahkan tidak akan beraksi pada Piala Thomas 2024 dan kekosongan ditinggalkan naib juara Terbuka Artik 2023 itu akan digantikan dengan pemain beregu, Choong Hon Jian.
Isu surat layang: Mangsa ugutan, gangguan seksual diminta lapor polis
Jabatan Kesihatan Negeri (JKN) Perak meminta mangsa yang mendakwa menerima ugutan serta gangguan seksual yang dikaitkan dengan isu surat layang tular membabitkan kakitangan perubatan Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun (HRPB) supaya membuat laporan polis.
Bekalan Darah: Kadar penderma darah dalam negara masih rendah
Menurut Timbalan Pengarah I, Pusat Darah Negara, Kementerian Kesihatan (KKM), Dr Tun Maizura Mohd Fathullah, kadar tersebut perlu ditingkatkan bagi memastikan bekalan darah mencukupi terutamanya pada waktu-waktu terdesak.
KBS umum syarat pelepasan cukai latihan sukan
Kementerian Belia dan Sukan (KBS) mengumumkan syarat-syarat pelepasan cukai bagi latihan sukan pada Jumaat.
Kastam tumpaskan sindiket penyeludupan, temukan dadah bawah pokok
Jabatan Kastam Diraja Malaysia Pulau Pinang menumpaskan cubaan penyeludupan dadah apabila merampas dadah jenis methaphetamine seberat 30 kilogram bernilai hampir RM1 juta.
Pengawal keselamatan didakwa bunuh anak kandung berusia enam bulan
Seorang bapa yang tergamak mendera anak kandungnya yang berusia enam bulan sehingga mengakibatkan mangsa mati didakwa di Mahkamah Bandar Baru Bangi, pada Jumaat kerana kesalahan membunuh.
Perang Iran-Israel, kesan kepada geopolitik Asia Barat
Penyelidik Kanan IRIS Institute, Asyraf Farique memberikan analisis semasa mengenai perang Iran dan Israel serta kesannya kepada geopolitik di Asia Barat.