The utility of the Five Factor Model in understanding risky sexual behavior

The physical, emotional, and financial consequences of engaging in risky sexual behavior can be extremely high. This paper explores the relations between the Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality and a variety of risky sexual behaviors using a community sample of 481 individuals who are part of an ongoing longitudinal study. More specifically, we examined the relations between the five major personality domains, as well as the 30 specific facets, and six risky sexual behaviors including number of partners, the use of drugs or alcohol before or during sex, number of sexual acts without using a condom, giving birth at an early age, sex outside one's primary relationship, and early sexual initiation. The results suggest that personality can make a valuable contribution to our understanding of several risky sexual behaviors. In particular, the domains of low Agreeableness, low Openness to Experience, and high Extraversion were significantly related to multiple high risk sexual behaviors. In addition, several specific personality traits made significant contributions (e.g., high gregariousness, high excitement seeking, low openness to fantasy, low trust, and low straightforwardness).