According to new study at the University of Bristol and University of Southampton discovered that men are less likely to wear a condom the more attractive they perceive a woman, regardless of risk involved.
On the other hand, the same study found that men were more likely to wear a condom if the women they were going to sleep with was perceived not attractive.
51 heterosexual men between the ages of 18 and 69 were surveyed. They were asked to rate on a scale from 0 to 20 the perceived level of attractiveness of different photos of women faces. Then they were asked to estimate how likely the women in the image had a sexually transmitted disease and how willing they were to have sex with the woman with or without a condom.
Overall, the more attractive a woman was considered among the men, the more willing they would be to have sex with her and less likely they would use a condom if it did really happen.
Past research has discovered that men identify a correlation between a woman's attractiveness and promiscuity, increasing the perceived likelihood that she has been exposed to STDs.
"Male perceptions of attractiveness influence their condom use intentions; such risk biases could profitably be discussed during sex education sessions and in condom use promotion interventions," researchers noted in the study.
The researchers said that the study included only a small number of men with majority of whom were white. A larger, more diverse group of men may result in different results.
The study was published in the British Medical Journal Open
