Featured Research
This page features research conducted by RAND Health research staff that has been published in a scholarly journal.Primacy of Affect Over Cognition in Determining Adult Men's Condom-Use Behavior: A Review
Norton TR, Bogart LM, Cecil H, Pinkerton SD. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Vol. 35, No. 12, Dec 2005, pp. 2493-2534.
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Abstract
Prior research suggests that failure to use condoms can be understood within the context of condom-related attitudes. We reviewed quantitative and qualitative literature on adult men's condom-use attitudes; condom-related attitudinal beliefs were classified as cognitive (e.g., effectiveness) or affective (e.g., pleasure-related), and their relationships to behavior were examined. To determine differences in the effects of cognitive and affective beliefs, we conducted a critical qualitative review, a meta-analysis, and a "vote-count." In support of the primacy of affect hypothesis (Zajonc, 1984), cognitive beliefs were weaker predictors of condom use than were affective beliefs. Results suggest that HIV-prevention interventions will have greater success by addressing negative affective reactions to condom use in addition to promoting the protective value of condoms.
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