Self-Esteem, Mood, and Intentions to Use Condoms: When Does Low Self-Esteem Lead to Risky Health Behaviors?

The authors assessed the interactive effects of self-esteem and mood on intentions to engage in unprotected sexual intercourse. Prior research has shown that people with low self-esteem tend to evaluate themselves unfavorably when in a negative mood state, whereas people with high self-esteem are less susceptible to changes in self-evaluation following a negative mood induction. The authors hypothesized that people who engage in negative self-evaluations may be more likely to report intentions to engage in unprotected sexual intercourse. Undergraduate females were randomly assigned to a positive or negative mood induction condition. Consistent with their hypotheses, the authors found that among participants who were in a negative mood state, those with low self-esteem were more likely to report intentions to have sexual intercourse without a condom than were those with high self-esteem. In contrast, among participants in a positive mood, there were no differences between those who were low and high in self-esteem.