Abstract: Social Norms, Communication, and Condom Use in Casual Sexual Relationships

◆ Manuel D. Pulido, California State University, Long Beach
◆ Adriana La Fuente, California State University, Long Beach

While there is a growing body of sexual communication research, the social process by which college students decide when, how, and with whom to engage in casual sex and its implications for their sexual health remains to be fully understood. Informed by recent extensions to the theory of normative social behavior (TNSB; Chung & Rimal, 2016), this investigation aims to test if and how college students’ reports of descriptive, injunctive, and collective norms regarding three variations in commitment within casual sexual relationships—hookups, booty calls, and friends with benefits—systematically correspond with differences in their communication patterns and sexual health behaviors. More specifically, this investigation tests if the extent to which college students report discussing casual sex with close peers as well as the perceived quality of sexual communication with their casual sex partners may moderate the relationships between social norms and self-reported engagement in casual sex and condom use. This investigation answers calls for additional studies that test the potential mediating role of injunctive norms in the relationships between descriptive norms and behaviors, and collective norms and behaviors (Rimal & Lapinski, 2015). Furthermore, this study extends TNSB by testing if the moderating role of interpersonal communication may vary based on relationship type (cf. Rimal et al., 2015). A cross-sectional survey of approximately 400 undergraduate students will be conducted at a large, Hispanic-serving institution on the West Coast between November 2023 and February 2024. Results will be discussed in terms of their implications for theories of social norms and health behavior (Rimal & Real, 2005; Fishbein & Azjen, 2011) and practical utility for innovating health campaigns and interventions to improve sexual health and wellness on college campuses.