4 Socio-economic status: there is conflicting evidence concerning the relationship
between SES and contraceptive use with some research indicating a relationship
(e.g. Hornick et al. 1979) and others indicating no relationship (e.g. Herold 1981).
5 Education: evidence indicates that higher school performance and higher edu-
cational aspirations may be linked with contraception use (e.g. Herold and Samson
1980; Furstenburg et al. 1983).
Although these background factors may influence contraceptive use, whether this effect
is direct or through the effect of other factors such as knowledge and attitudes is unclear.
Intrapersonal factors
1 Knowledge: Whitley and Schofield (1986) analysed the results of 25 studies of
contraceptive use and reported a correlation of 0.17 between objective knowledge
and contraceptive use in both men and women, suggesting that knowledge is poorly
linked to behaviour. Ignorance about contraception has also been shown by several
studies. For example, Cvetkovich and Grote (1981) reported that of their sample
10 per cent did not believe that they could become pregnant the first time they had
sex, and 52 per cent of men and 37 per cent of women could not identify the periods
of highest risk in the menstrual cycle. In addition, Lowe and Radius (1982) reported
that 40 per cent of their sample did not know how long sperm remained viable.
2 Attitudes: Fisher (1984) reported that positive attitudes towards contraception
parallel actual use. Negative attitudes included beliefs that ‘it kills spontaneity’, ‘it’s
too much trouble to use’ and that there are possible side effects. In addition, carrying
contraceptives around is often believed to be associated with being promiscuous
(e.g. Lowe and Radius 1982).
3 Personality: Many different personality types have been related to contraceptive
use. This research assumes that certain aspects of individuals are consistent over time
and research has reported associations between the following types of personality:
conservatism and sex role have been shown to be negatively related to contraceptive
use (e.g. Geis and Gerard 1984; McCormick et al. 1985).
an internal locus of control appears to correlate with contraceptive use but not with
choice of type of contraception (Morrison 1985).
sex guilt and sex anxiety positively relate to use and consistency of use of
contraception (Herold and McNamee 1982).
Interpersonal factors
Research highlights a role for characteristics of the following significant others:
1 Partner: facets of the relationship may influence contraception use including
duration of relationship, intimacy, type of relationship (e.g. casual versus steady),
exclusivity, and ability to have overt discussions about contraception (e.g. DeLamater
and MacCorquodale 1978, 1979).
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