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‘It’s Not What You Said, It’s How You Said It’: Perceptions of Condom Proposers by Gender and Strategy

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Abstract

We examined effects of proposer gender and condom negotiation strategy on perceptions of condom proposers in undergraduates in the southwestern regions of the US. Using a video manipulation (N = 150), a female proposer was evaluated no more harshly than a male proposer, and was evaluated more positively in some ways. In a vignette manipulation (N = 193) a female proposer using an Eroticization negotiation strategy (compared to Refusal of sex or Explanation of consequences) was seen as more exciting and likely to engage in sex. Surprisingly, women were harsher judges than men of a female condom proposer using an Eroticization strategy. Greater attention should be paid to the nature of condom negotiation within the framework of the sexual script.

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Acknowledgments

Preparation of this manuscript was supported, in part, by center grant P30-MH52776 from the National Institute of Mental Health and by NRSA postdoctoral training grant T32-MH19985.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for AIDS Intervention Research, Medical College of Wisconsin, 2071 N. Summit Ave, Milwaukee, WI, 53212, USA

    Michelle R. Broaddus

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA

    Heather Morris

  3. Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Angela D. Bryan

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  1. Michelle R. Broaddus
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  2. Heather Morris
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  3. Angela D. Bryan
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Correspondence to Michelle R. Broaddus.

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Broaddus, M.R., Morris, H. & Bryan, A.D. ‘It’s Not What You Said, It’s How You Said It’: Perceptions of Condom Proposers by Gender and Strategy. Sex Roles 62, 603–614 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-009-9728-z

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