Perceptions of Vulnerability to Pregnancy and the Use of Effective Contraception

A study was conducted to determine (a) whether the lower pregnancy risk that sexually active college women attribute to themselves relative to "average"others results from underestimating their own risk or overestimating others' risk and (b) the relationship of this perceived difference to contraceptive use. Sexually active women, on the average, accurately rated their own and their best friend's risk and overestimated others' risk, although users of poor contraception did tend to overestimate the effectiveness of the methods they used. Coitally inexperienced women also overestimated others' pregnancy risk. Contrary to previous findings, perceived relative invulnerability to pregnancy was positively correlated with effectiveness of contraception, and poor contraceptors estimated their pregnancy risk to be higher than that of effective contraceptors. Implications of the findings for the theory of "unique invulnerability" to victimization are discussed.

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