Study shows men don’t want to wear a condom when their sexual partner is “hot”

Well, this is upsetting. A new study of heterosexual men found that they were less likely to use a condom with female partners they considered “hot.”

Researchers showed the men photos of different women and asked them a series of detailed questions about each one, including how attractive they thought she was, if they wanted to have sex with her, if they thought OTHER men would want to have sex with her, if they would be likely to use a condom, and if they thought she had a sexually transmitted infection. Basically all the awful conversation topics you might overhear when you’re seated next to a booth of frat guys at Applebee’s.

The men’s responses indicated that the more attractive they found a woman, the less likely they would be inclined to wear a condom during a sexual encounter with her.

Researchers hypothesized that this is because of the “halo effect,” in which we tend to ascribe all sorts of positive qualities to beautiful people. Their good looks become a metaphorical halo, causing us to believe they are also smart, kind, hard-working, fair, and, in the case of this strange and depressing study, free of sexually transmitted diseases.

But while the men’s actions SEEMED to support this idea, their responses actually didn’t line up. They didn’t believe the attractive women had less STIs than the ones they deemed unattractive, but they still wanted to skip the condom. Huh.

As shocking as the results of this study are, without a better understanding of the men’s motivations, it’s hard to draw any real conclusion from this.

Except one: wear a condom, every time, no matter what.