An Experimental Investigation of the Interactive Effects of Alcohol and Sexual Arousal on Intentions to Have Unprotected Sex

We manipulated both alcohol intoxication and sexual arousal and presented male participants (N = 79) with a video vignette in which two undergraduates decide whether to have unprotected sexual intercourse. Participants were asked what they would do if they were in a similar situation, and we found that among sober participants, those assigned to a sexually arousing or neutral condition did not differ in their intentions to engage in unprotected sexual intercourse. Among intoxicated participants (M blood alcohol level = 0.08%), however, those assigned to the sexually arousing condition reported that they were more likely to have unprotected sex than did those assigned to the neutral cue condition. These findings support alcohol myopia theory (Steele & Josephs, 1990) and are consistent with prior nonexperimental work (MacDonald, MacDonald, Zanna, & Fong, 2000). Through the use of an experimental design, this study makes a new contribution by demonstrating that sexual arousal and alcohol intoxication interact to exert a causal influence on intentions to engage in risky sexual behavior.

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