Author(s): Alvarez, Maria-João ; Luz, Rita ; Pegado, Ana ; Godinho, Cristina Albuquerque ; Baptista, Beatriz ; Pereira, Cicero Roberto
Date: 2025
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/101814
Origin: Repositório da Universidade de Lisboa
Subject(s): Casual sex; sexual scripts; casual sexual scripts; condom use; young adults
Casual sexual relationships (CSRs) are increasingly common among young adults, yet research rarely explores whether condom use is part of the behavioral scripts guiding these encounters. This study, grounded in a cognitive script framework, examined the inclusion of condom use in three heterosexual CSR types—friends with benefits, one-night stands, and hook-ups—as well as in dating/regular relationships. Data were collected from two samples of Portuguese emerging adults aged 18–29 (N = 86 and N = 120) between March and May 2023. In a preliminary study, participants rated how typical various actions were within each relationship type. Condom use was rated as typical in CSRs but not in dating relationships. A memory recognition task was then used to assess whether condom use was cognitively encoded as part of these scripts. While participants often reported condoms as typical in CSRs, the results exposed a contradiction: false recognitions (false alarms) were significantly higher for typical actions, but condom-related actions were processed more like atypical ones. These findings suggest that although individuals consciously endorse condom use in CSRs, their underlying cognitive scripts may not support it. This highlights a gap between reported beliefs and implicit processing, with implications for sexual health interventions targeting young adults.
