According to this study, yes.
Well, this
is... unexpected. According to a new study conducted by researchers at
Southampton and Bristol universities, heterosexual men are less likely
to use a condom if they find their casual sexual partner attractive.
The
group of researchers surveyed 51 heterosexual men between the ages of
18 and 69 by asking them to take part in face-to-face interviews.
Participants were shown pictures of 20 different women, and asked to
rate how attractive they were on a scale of 1 to 100, before being asked
a series of questions.
They
were quizzed on what the likelihood would be of them sleeping with each
woman if they were single, the chances of them using a condom if they
did have sex, how many other men (out of 100) they believe would also
have condomless sex with each woman, and the chances of each woman
carrying an STD.
The
study was small, so should be taken with a huge spoonful of salt. But
the results were interesting nonetheless, with the men saying they were
more likely to use a condom if they didn't find their partner
attractive.
The lead author of the study Anastasia Eleftheriou explained in an email to the :
"Men are more willing to have condomless sex with attractive women...
even though they might believe that those women are more likely [to have
an STD]."
The
study's co-author Roger Ingham offered two possible explanations for
such a result, noting firstly that it could be because "men want to
reproduce with women they find to be more attractive". His second
suggestion was that men might believe sleeping with attractive women is a
marker of status, "and so are willing to take more risk to acquire this
status".
Do the results of this study surprise you? Let us know by tweeting us
EmoticonEmoticon