Gender and sexual risk

Two hypotheses are evaluated in this investigation of gender differences in the attitudinal and behavioral correlates of sexual risk. The "difference in magnitude" hypothesis predicts that the same factors are implicated for women and men but differences occur in the strength of correlates. Alternatively, women may engage in sexual risk for different reasons than do men, leading to a "difference in pattern" hypothesis. We compared these possibilities with a sample of 576 primarily White, middle-class, never-married college students, most of whom were between 17 and 25 years of age. Analyses of love attitudes, risk perception, sensation seeking, and risk behaviors in other domains in relation to sexual risk behavior showed some gender similarities as well as differences. Findings were more consistent with the difference in pattern hypothesis than with the difference in magnitude hypothesis.