This article was downloaded by: [University of Oklahoma Libraries]

On: 21 January 2015, At: 08:24

Publisher: Routledge
Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number:
1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street,
London W1T 3JH, UK

The Journal of Sex Research

Publication details, including instructions for
authors and subscription information:
http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/hjsr20

The effect of condom use

and erotic instructions on
attitudes toward condoms
a
William M. Tanner M.S. & Robert H. Pollack
b
Ph.D.
a
University of Georgia, Department of
Psychology , Athens, GA, 30602
b
University of Georgia ,
Published online: 11 Jan 2010.

To cite this article: William M. Tanner M.S. & Robert H. Pollack Ph.D. (1988) The
effect of condom use and erotic instructions on attitudes toward condoms, The
Journal of Sex Research, 25:4, 537-541, DOI: 10.1080/00224498809551481

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00224498809551481

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all
the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our
platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors
make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy,
completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions
and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of
the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis.
The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be
independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and
Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings,
demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever
or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in
relation to or arising out of the use of the Content.
 This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study
purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution,
reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any
form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access
and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-
conditions
Downloaded by [University of Oklahoma Libraries] at 08:24 21 January 2015
 The Journal of Sex Research Vol. 25, No. 4, pp. 537-541 November, 1988

THE EFFECT OF CONDOM USE AND EROTIC INSTRUCTIONS

ON ATTITUDES TOWARD CONDOMS

W I L L I A M M. TANNER, M.S. R O B E R T H. POLLACK, Ph.D.

University of Georgia

It was hypothesized that erotic experiences with condoms would cause

attitudes toward condoms to become more positive. Heterosexual
couples were randomly assigned to three conditions. Couples received
Downloaded by [University of Oklahoma Libraries] at 08:24 21 January 2015

either condoms with instructions on how to incorporate them into

sensuous foreplay, condoms only, or no condoms and no instructions. All
couples received pre- and post-tests on the Attitude Toward Condoms
Scale (Brown, 1984). Both of the intervention groups used condoms over
a two-week period. A 3 x 2 x 2 (treatment x gender x pre-post) design was
used, and the analysis revealed that only those who received the erotic
instructions had significantly enhanced attitudes toward condoms. The
results are discussed in terms of future research and application of an
intervention to enhance attitudes toward condoms.

KEY WORDS: sexual attitudes, condoms, erotic instructions

Despite a significant increase in sexual intercourse among American teen-

agers during the 1970s, it has been found that teenagers are irregular in their
contraceptive practices. Many young people start using contraceptives only
after becoming sexually active or after experiencing a pregnancy (Zelnick &
Kantner, 1980; Tanfer & Horn, 1985). Inconsistent contraceptive use may lead
to an increased risk of transmitting sexually transmitted diseases and con-
tributes to approximately one million pregnancies per year (Foege, 1981).
Explanations have been offered to explain why teenagers are poor contra-
ceptors. According to Brown (1983), contraceptive use is not positively social-
ly sanctioned or reinforced for teenagers. Messages about contraceptive use
received by teenagers are negative in that their content involves the preven-
tion of unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. In addition,
the course of sexual development in our society is not the same as that for
most other human functions. Major social institutions such as parents,
churches, and schools are often opposed to educating their young on sexual
issues (Bennett & Dickinson, 1980; Earle & Perricone, 1986). Negative contra-
ceptive attitudes and inefficient use may result because, during childhood and
adolescence, sexual behavior is not integrated with permissible cognitive
knowledge about sex.
Attempts have been made to remedy negative attitudes toward condoms by
Brown (1983) and Black (1985). These studies employed erotic stories which in-
corporated condom use in order to reinforce positive attitudes toward
condoms. The intervention was successful only with males. Black (1985) sug-

Requests for reprints should be sent to William Tanner, Department of Psychology,

University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602.

537
 538 BRIEF REPORTS

gested that the females may not have been sufficiently aroused by the erotica
to elicit a change in attitudes or that the effect may have been gender or
wearer specific.
Another explanation for the above findings is that the high-level cognitive
activity of reading is too far removed from actual sexual behavior to produce a
change in attitudes toward condoms. Therefore, it was hypothesized that
pleasurable sensory experiences with condoms would change attitudes toward
condoms. The expectation was that participants who followed erotic instruc-
tions on how to incorporate the condom into foreplay would be rewarded by
pleasant erotic sensations and would thus become more positive in their
Downloaded by [University of Oklahoma Libraries] at 08:24 21 January 2015

attitudes toward condoms.

Method
The sample consisted of 36 heterosexual couples_from_theJ[J[niyergityj3f
Georgia^ who participated in fulfillment of courierequirement. To qualify,
couples had to be in an ongoing monogamous sexual relationship,, of legal age,
and^thefemaleshad.to.be.using an oral contraceptive.
Timing the pre-test session, participants completed the Attitude Toward
Condoms Scale (Brown, 1984) which assesses attitudes toward condoms, the
Sexual Opinion Survey (White, Fisher, Byrne, & Kingma, 1977) which
measures erotophobia-erotophilia, and the Sexual Experience Checklist
(Cowart & Pollack, 1979) which assesses an individual's range of sexual experi-
ence.
After the questionnaires were completed, the couples were jrandpmly.,,
assigned to one of three groups. The first group received condoms and both
verbal and~written erotic instructions which consisted of suggestions that
would eroticize.condom use. The second group received condoms with no in-
structions, while the third group received neither condoms nor instructions.
The first two groups were instructed to uselSiree condoms per week over a
two-week period and to keep journals of their sexual encounters. The journals
allowed an assessment of increases and decreases in pleasure in relation to con-
dom use across sexual encounters. In order to mask the true purpose of the
study, colored condoms were distributed, and the participants were asked to
indicate their preferences in their journals. During the post-test session,
participants completed the questionnaires again and were debriefed.
The instructions given to the experimental group included suggestions that
would eroticize condom use expecially by involving the female partner in the
application of the condom. For example, females were told that putting the
condom on the male could be arousing for her and her partner. In addition, the
instructions focused on how body heat could be felt through the condom so
that the male would not experience a decrease in sensation.

Results
The test-retest design permitted reliability measures to be made on each
scale. The same reliability coefficient was found for all three instruments,
r(70) = .84, p < .001.
 BRIEF REPORTS 539

The scores on the Attitude Toward Condoms Scale were analyzed using an
analysis of rnvnriancpjwith the pre-test scores acting as the covariate. The
results of the analysis revealed no main effect for gender, .F(2,65) = .114, p >
.05 and no gender x intervention interaction, F(2,65) = .58, p > .05. However,
there was a main effect for intervention, F(2,65) = 8.93, p < .001. A Tukey
test performed on the adjusted post-test means revealed a significant
difference between the condom-instruction group and the condom-only group,
p < .01.
pep_e_ndent_t_tes_ta.were performed on the means from the Attitude Toward
Condoms Scale for each group to assess which groups changed from pre-test to
Downloaded by [University of Oklahoma Libraries] at 08:24 21 January 2015

post-test. The only group that changed significantly was found to be the
condom-instruction group (125.25 to 136.71), t(23) = 3.76, p < .001. The at-
titude scores in the condom-only group decreased (125.63 to 119.54), while the
control group remained relatively constant (138.08 to 142.08).
The journal reports of the participants in the instruction-condom group and
the condom-only group were scored for increases and decreases in sexual
pleasure during the course of the experiment. If the participants reported an
increase in pleasure, a " + " was assigned, and if a decrease in pleasure was
reported, a " - " was assigned. Frequencies of increases and decreases in
pleasure revealed a significant relationship between following the erotic
instructions and increase in pleasure associated with condom use, x2(l) = 6.00,
p < .025.
Analyses of covariance were performed on the scores from the Sexual
OpinionSurvey and the Sexual Experien£e_CheeJklist to determine the effect of
~Ehe intervention on the participants' levels of erotophilia-erotophobia and on
the participants' ranges of sexual behavior. Pre-test scores were used as the
covariates. Neither analysis indicated any significant differences.

Discussion
The rates of unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases point
to obvious weaknesses in educating young people about condom use. Society
does_not.provide.positjve_sanctions for contraceptivejuse among teenagers.
Black (1985) states that contraceptive use is usually introduced ontyjts a way
to_avoid_punishment (pregnancy or disease). Therefore,the^yolTn'g^erson'may
not associate its use with sexual pleasure. Since reward is moreleffective than
punishmentirf increasing the likelihood of the occurrence of a behavior
(Skinner, 1953; Thorndike, 1932), condom use should be associated with
rewarding pleasure in order to make its use consistent and effective. Thus,
young people may benefit from education that acknowledges the positive,
pleasurable consequences of protected sexual activity.
In addition, sexual behavior is_ a sensorimotor ad;iyjty which needjiotjely
on high-level cognitive or conceptual activity for its expression. Therefore, the
present study was aimed at enhancing attitudes Jowardj:ondqmsjsvith an
intervention that would operate at that low level. Couples in the experimental
group were given concrete instructionsthat emphasized the sensory and erotic
aspects of condom use.
The results demonstrated that a significant change j n attitudes tpward.con-
dom^tppkj)lace_in^those: couplesjsvho were instructed tcdncorporate.the.con-
 540 BRIEF REPORTS

doms into erotic-pleasuring. In addition, the journals of the couples in the two
condom groups showed different patterns of sexual enjoyment over the course
of the experiment. The couples in the erotic instruction-condom group more
often reported increasing pleasure while those in the no instruction-condom
group more often reported decreasing enjoyment.
Several conclusions can be drawn from these results. First, it appears that
an intervention was successful in enhancing attitudes toward condoms at the
sensorimotor level. Perhaps changing attitudes toward condoms does not
require that the intervention be directed at high-level cognitive operations.
The introduction of pleasurable sensorimotor experience may be more power-
ful than the higher level cognitive approach characteristic of formal education.
Downloaded by [University of Oklahoma Libraries] at 08:24 21 January 2015

Second, this intervention was equally successful with both sexes in contrast to
the results of Brown (1983) and Black (1985) whose methods were cognitive.
The analyses done on the Sexual Opinion Survey and the Sexual Experience
Checklist revealed no differences among groups in erotophilia-erotophobia
scores or in the ranges of sexual experiences. Thus, the success of this inter-
vention was not dependent on the participant's level of sexual experience or
erotophilia-erotophobia.
The results of this study show that jinking sexual pleasure with condom use
can^ produce enhancement of positive attitudes toward cojidorfls. Future
research involves a replication in which participants will be followed up after
three months to see whether the intervention will produce a long-term change
in attitudes toward and the use of condoms. Application of this method then
will be attempted with at-risk populations to promote condom use as well as
attitude change.

References

BENNETT, S. M., & DICKINSON, W. B. (1980). Student-parent rapport and parent in-
volvement in sex, birth control, and venereal disease education. Journal of Sex
Research, 16, 114-130.
BLACK, K. J. (1985). The effect of the fusion of erotica with contraceptive practice on
attitudes toward condoms. Unpublished master's thesis. University of Georgia,
Athens, Georgia.
BROWN, I. S. (1983). Symbolic arousal and attitudes toward fertility control. Un-
published doctoral dissertation. University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.
BROWN, I. S. (1984). Development of a scale to measure attitude toward the condom as a
method of birth control. Journal of Sex Research, 20, 255-263.
CowART, D., & POLLACK, R. H. (1979). A Guttman scale of sexual experience. Journal of
Sex Education and Therapy, 1, 3-6.
EARLE, J. R., & PERRICONE, P. J. (1986). Premarital sexuality: A ten-year study of
attitudes and behavior on a small university campus. Journal of Sex Research, 22,
304-310.
FOEGE, W. (1981). Childbearing and abortion patterns among teenagers. Morbidity
Mortality Weekly Report, 30, 611-620.
SKINNER, B. F. (1953). Science and human behavior. New York: MacMillan.
TANFER, K., & HORN, M. C. (1985). Contraceptive use, pregnancy and fertility patterns
among American women in their 20s. Family Planning Perspectives, 17, 10-19.
 BRIEF REPORTS 541

THORNDIKE, E. L. (1932). Reward and punishment in animal learning. Comparative

Psychological Monographs, 8(4).
WHITE, L. A., FISHER, W. A., BYRNE, D., & KINGMA, R. Development and validation of a
measure of affective orientation to erotic stimuli: The Sexual Opinion Survey. Paper
presented at the meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago,
Illinois, May, 1977.
ZELNIK, M., & KANTNER, J. F. (1980). Sexual activity, contraceptive use and pregnancy
among metropolitan-area teenagers: 1971-1979. Family Planning Perspectives, 12,
230-237.
Downloaded by [University of Oklahoma Libraries] at 08:24 21 January 2015

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS:

DEADLINE DECEMBER 1, 1988
8th Society for Menstrual Cycle Research Conference
The program, MENOPAUSE: CLINICAL AND SOCIOCULTURAL
IMPLICATIONS OF THE CLOSURE OF MENSTRUAL LIFE, will be held
June 1-3,1989 in Salt Lake City, Utah. This interdisciplinary program is call-
ing for papers/posters in the area of menopause, menstruation, menarche. For
further information and abstract guidelines contact:
Ann Voda
University of Utah
25 S. Medical Drive
Salt Lake City, Utah
84112
(801) 581-8272