Personality traits and coping styles as mediators in risky sexual behavior: A comparison of male and female undergraduate students
Main Article Content
The aim in this study was to examine the extent to which differences in risky sexual behavior (RSB) between males and females is mediated by their personality traits and coping styles. Participants were 180 first-year undergraduate students who were evaluated with the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (Cloninger, 1987); the Multidimensional Coping Inventory (Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989); and a Risky Sexual Behavior Questionnaire. Findings showed that while the majority of the males had engaged in RSB at least once during the previous year (80%), the majority of the females had not engaged in such behavior (62%). In addition, the males scored significantly higher than did the females on the novelty-seeking personality dimension (i.e., the tendency to respond with intense excitement to novel stimuli), as well as on the problem-focused and the avoidance coping styles. Path analysis revealed 2 mediators in the relationship between RSB and gender: novelty seeking and the avoidance coping style.
Despite intensive prevention efforts that have led to increased public awareness, risky sexual behavior (RSB), manifested mainly in practicing unprotected sex, is still a major problem and a matter for societal concern. Considering that RSB significantly increases the risk for a variety of sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS, the identification of factors enhancing and motivating such behavior is vital in order to improve prevention programs.
There is empirical evidence suggesting that gender is a key factor in the understanding of RSB. However, the findings are inconclusive as to the nature of the relationship between RSB and gender. Some researchers have demonstrated that engagement in RSB is more common among males than among females and that females tend to be more selective and to exercise more caution in their sexual behavior (Hawkins, Gray, & Hawkins, 1995; Poulson, Eppler, Satterwhite, Wuensch, & Bass, 1998). Other researchers, however, have indicated the opposite trend, namely that the rate of females’ engagement in RSB is higher than that of males (Scandell, Klinkenberg, Hawkes, & Spriggs, 2003). Furthermore, the reason for the gender diversity in RSB has not yet been fully elucidated.
The focus in the present study was on the association between gender and RSB. More specifically, we examined the role of two personality features – person- ality traits and coping style – both of which have previously been connected to RSB (e.g., Bryan & Stallings, 2002) and to gender (e.g., Wills, Vaccaro, & McNamara, 1994) as mediators in the relationship between RSB and gender.
For that purpose, two theoretical frameworks have been used: Cloninger’s tridimensional personality theory (1987) and Carver’s coping theory (Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989). Both of these models have been linked directly to various risky and abnormal behaviors, such as substance abuse and other addiction problems (Belding, Iguchi, Lamb, & Lakin, 1996; Kim & Grant, 2001), suicide tendencies and attempts (Gil, 2003), and other psychiatric disorders (Cloninger, 1986; Herran & Vazquez, 1998).
Cloninger’s theory (1987) is derived from the unified biosocial model of personality and is based on the hypothesis that neurochemical transmitters determine stimulus-response characteristics. Three sets of transmitters and their behavioral manifestations are proposed: 1) novelty seeking (dopamine) is described as a tendency to respond with intense excitement to novel stimuli or to seek potential relief from punishment; 2) harm avoidance (serotonin) is defined as a tendency to respond intensely (i.e., fearfully, tensely, and with inhibitions) to previously established signals of aversive stimuli and to learn passively to avoid punishment, novelty, and frustrating nonreward; 3) reward dependence (norepinephrine) is characterized as a tendency to respond intensely (i.e., with oversentimentality and sensitivity) to signals of reward, especially social reward, and to maintain behavior previously associated with reward or with relief from punishment.
Carver and colleagues (1989) describe a broad spectrum of 13 distinct coping styles or ways of responding to stressful situations. Five of these coping styles (active coping, planning, suppression of competing activities, restraint coping, and seeking instrumental social support) are classified as problem-focused. Another five coping styles (seeking emotional social support, positive reinterpretation, acceptance, denial, and turning to religion) are classified as emotion-focused. Three coping styles (focusing on and venting emotions, behavioral disengagement, and mental disengagement) are classified as avoidance and less useful coping styles.
The goal in the present study was to increase and deepen the understanding of RSB among undergraduate students by examining its association with gender, individual personality traits, and coping style. Specifically, the aim was to examine the extent to which differences in RSB between males and females are mediated by their personality traits and coping styles.
Method
Participants and Procedure
Participants in the study were 180 first-year undergraduate students in the Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Studies at the University of Haifa in northern Israel. The research questionnaires were distributed and filled in during class time, following a detailed explanation of the study’s aims and significance, together with a guarantee of anonymity. Responding to the questionnaires took approximately 30 minutes. Of the 190 students present in the classroom, 2 (<1%) refused to participate and 8 (4%) were excluded from participation because they defined themselves as homosexual (with such a small number of homosexual participants, the most reasonable option in terms of statistical analysis was to exclude them from participation in the study).
The final cohort consisted of 180 individuals, whose demographic characteristics are presented in Table 1.
Table 1. Demographic Characteristics
Participants were predominantly female (58%), single (76%), and Israeli-born (68%), with a mean age of 23.4 + 4.7 years, a higher education level than the average 12 years’ high school education (12.6 + 1.5 years of education), and no self-reported history of any psychiatric disorder (100%). Eighty (44%) of the participants were students in the Department of Nursing, 60 (33%) in the Department of Human Services, and 40 (23%) in the School of Social Work. Comparison analyses (chi square and t tests) indicated no statistically significant differences in the demographic profiles of males and females in the present sample, strengthening the ability to contrast them regarding their RSB, personality traits, and coping styles.
Measures
The Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ; Cloninger, 1987) The TPQ is a 100-item true/false self-report inventory designed to measure the three primary personality dimensions thought to be involved in the mediation of particular types of stimuli: novelty seeking (NS; 34 questions); harm avoidance (HA; 33 questions); and reward dependence (RD; 33 questions). The total score of each of the three dimensions is calculated as the sum of the participants’ ratings. In the present study the Hebrew version of this instrument was used, which was found to have strong reliability and validity in previous studies (Gil, 2003; Pud, Eisenberg, Sprecher, Rogowski, & Yarnitsky, 2004), as well as in the present sample (Cronbach alphas: .90 for NS, .89 for HA, and .85 for RD).
The intercorrelation between the three subscales was shown to be nonsignificant, both in the present study and in a previous study by Cloninger himself (1987), thereby strengthening its reliability. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that the three TPQ dimensions predicted scores on the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ; Eysenck, 1967), which is another widely used personality assessment tool (Cloninger, 1987).
The Multidimensional Coping Inventory (COPE; Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989) assesses individual coping style with 52 statements that describe different ways of responding to stress. In the present study, participants were asked to rate the correspondence of each item to the way in which they react to stress during everyday life (trait coping style), using a 4-point scale ranging from 0 (not at all) to 3 (very much so). Based on the conceptualization of the inventory, the participants’ responses to each statement were totaled and categorized according to three coping styles: problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, and avoidance coping. In the present study the Hebrew version of this instrument was used, which was found to have strong reliability and validity in previous studies (Ben- Zur, 2002), as well as in the present sample (Cronbach’s alpha ranged from .90 for avoidance coping to .93 for problem-focused coping).
Risky Sexual Behavior Questionnaire (RSBQ) The definition and evaluation of RSB is a complex task and a subject for debate among scholars. To date, no single accepted definition representing the entire spectrum of RSB is available in the literature (Bryan & Stallings, 2002; Scandell et al., 2003). As a result, RSB in the present study was assessed on the basis of its most strict and conservative definition, namely engagement in unprotected vaginal or anal intercourse, either as penetrating (for males) or as being penetrated (for females). Specifically, the current RSBQ was designed to assess the degree to which respondents engaged in RSB at least once during the previous year. Respondents were asked whether or not they had participated (yes = 1, no = 0) in unprotected (i.e., without a latex condom) vaginal or anal intercourse at least once during the previous year. For each participant, a total RSB score was calculated according to the number of times that engagement in unprotected intercourse during the previous year was reported.
In addition, participants were asked to define themselves in terms of sexual orientation (heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual) and to define their HIV status (without HIV infection, asymptomatic HIV-infected, or with AIDS).
Data Analysis
Initially, the distribution of males’ and females’ engagement in RSB, their total RSB scores, their scores for the three personality traits, and their scores for the three coping styles were calculated. Chi square analyses were used to compare males’ and females’ engagement in RSB. Their total RSB scores, their scores for the three personality traits, and their scores for the three coping styles were compared using univariate analyses of variance (ANOVAs), followed by Duncan post hoc test. Finally, in order to examine the role of the three personality traits and the three coping styles in mediating the relationship between gender and RSB, the following theoretical model was tested, using path regression analyses.
Figure 1. Hypothesized model for the relationships between RSB, gender, personality traits, and coping style
Results
The distribution of males’ and females’ engagement in RSB, as well as their scores on the TPQ and on the COPE, are presented in Table 2.
Table 2. Distribution of Males’ and Females’ Engagement in RSB and their Scores on the TPQ and the COPE
Note: **p < .01; ***p < .001
As can be seen in the table, statistically significant differences were observed between males’ and females’ engagement in RSB during the previous year (χ2 = 21.13; p < .001). Whereas the majority of the males reported having engaged in RSB (80%), most of the females reported having had no such engagement (62%). Likewise, males (3.2 ± 1.7) scored significantly higher than did females (1.5±1.8) on the total RSB score (t = 2.6; p < .001).
Additional statistically significant differences between males and females were found in the NS (F = 19.9; p < .001) and HA (F = 11.1; p < .001) dimensions, as well as in the problem-focused (F = 10.0; p < .01), emotion-focused (F = 10.8; p < .01), and avoidance (F = 10.6; p < .01) coping styles. Males scored significantly higher than did females on the NS dimension (24.3 ± 1.1 and 14.8 ± 1.0, respectively), on the problem-focused coping style (11.3 ± 0.7 and 10.0 ± 0.6, respectively), and on the avoidance coping style (11.8 ± 0.7 and 10.0 ± 0.6, respectively). Conversely, females scored significantly higher than did males on the HA dimension (16.9 ± 0.9 and 12.9 ± 0.8, respectively) and on the emotion-focused coping style (12.0 ± 1.0 and 10.0 ± 1.0, respectively).
Figure 2 is a summary of the results of the path regression analyses.
Figure 2. Results of the path regression analyses
Note: The numbers presented in the figure are betas. *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001
In the first regression analysis, the dependent variable was the total RSB score and the independent variables were gender, the three personality dimensions, and the three coping styles. As shown in the figure, this analysis revealed that the total RSB score is associated with gender (β = .36, p < .001), ns (β = .30, p < .001), and the avoidance coping style (β = .19, p < .01).
In the second regression analysis, the dependent variable was gender and the independent variables were the three personality dimensions and the three coping styles. As shown in the figure, this analysis revealed that gender is associated with the NS (β = .31, p < .001) and HA (β = .23, p < .001) dimensions, as well as with the emotion-focused (β = .13, p < .01), avoidance (β = .12, p < .01), and problem- focused (β = .10, p < .05) coping styles.
Discussion
The aim in the present study was to examine the association of risky sexual behavior (RSB) with gender, using a sample of undergraduate students. More specifically, the study examined the role of personality traits, measured by Cloninger’s Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (1987), and coping style, measured by the Multidimensional Coping Inventory (Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989), as mediators in the relationship between RSB and gender.
The findings show a high and worrisome rate of engagement in RSB during the previous year among both male and female participants ranging from 38% for the females to 80% for the males. This concurs with previous studies in which similar and even higher rates of RSB were demonstrated among both males and females (e.g., Hawkins et al., 1995; Poulson et al., 1998; Scandell et al., 2003). Nevertheless, the findings gained in this study demonstrate an association between RSB and gender, as well as gender differences in RSB, with males reporting higher rates of engagement in RSB during the previous year and receiving higher total RSB scores than females did.
Additional gender differences, as manifested in the path model, were observed regarding both personality traits and coping style. It appears that males expressed higher levels of the NS dimension than did females and reported higher usage of the problem-focused and avoidance coping styles. Conversely, females expressed higher levels of the HA dimension than did males and reported higher usage of the emotion-focused coping style.
The path analysis indicated that the relationship between gender and RSB is mediated by two personality features: the NS dimension and the avoidance coping style. Individuals who score high on the NS dimension tend to be excitable, exploratory, impulsive, and extravagant and have low levels of anticipatory worry and fear of uncertainty (Cloninger, 1987; Kim & Grant, 2001). Individuals who score high on the avoidance coping style, which reflects behavioral and mental disengagement and denial, have a tendency toward greater distress and psychopathology (Ben-Zur, 2002). Indeed, this coping strategy was considered to be a less useful style by Carver and his colleagues (1989).
Novelty seeking is described as the tendency to respond with intense excitement to novel stimuli. The role of high novelty-seeking tendencies and high usage of the avoidance coping style in mediating RSB may well be understood as excitement or sensation seeking (Justus, Finn, & Steinmetz, 2000; White & Johnson, 1998), both of which have been identified as central motivations for sexual activity among males (Horowitz, 2002). Nevertheless, in previous studies high levels of novelty seeking have been linked to pathological gambling disorder (Kim & Grant, 2001), suicidal ideation (Gil, 2003), substance abuse (Bachanas, et al., 2002), and other conduct disorders (Bryan & Stallings, 2002). Thus, the high rates of RSB among males may also reflect a personal tendency toward risk taking and destructive behavior. It therefore seems reasonable to postulate that the combination of the need for excitement and the tendency toward risk taking and destructiveness that are embedded in the novelty-seeking tendency, together with the propensity to deal with reality in a less useful manner – such as denial – leads one to engage in RSB.
This conclusion, of course, is speculative and requires further research. Clearly, additional factors – in particular, environmental and societal variables – which were not the focus in the present study, need to be examined in future research. Moreover, in the present study RSB was narrowly defined, thereby excluding various other risky sexual behaviors, such as heterosexual male penetration by another male in unprotected intercourse. Finally, the ability to generalize from the present findings is limited insofar as the sample consisted primarily of single university students enrolled in programs of social service and health care studies.
Nevertheless, these findings should be of particular interest to professionals concerned with reducing RSB and, consequently, sexually transmitted diseases. The personality profile described above illuminates the type of person who is prone to engage in RSB and who is, therefore, in need of special clinical attention. In light of recent documentation indicating that RSB may begin as early as at the ages of 12-15 (Bachanas et al., 2002), it is vital to identify those young people who are more apt to behave in such a risky way, based on their personality profiles.
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Table 1. Demographic Characteristics
Figure 1. Hypothesized model for the relationships between RSB, gender, personality traits, and coping style
Table 2. Distribution of Males’ and Females’ Engagement in RSB and their Scores on the TPQ and the COPE
Note: **p < .01; ***p < .001
Figure 2. Results of the path regression analyses
Note: The numbers presented in the figure are betas. *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001
Appreciation is due to reviewers including
Michal Granot
Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Studies
University of Haifa
Mount Carmel
Haifa 31905
Israel
Josh Miller
Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic
3811 O&rsquo
Hara St
Pittsburgh
PA
USA 15213
Pitzy Ron
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Sharon Gil, School of Social Work, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Studies, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa 31905, Israel. Email: [email protected]