Sociosexuality and Bright and Dark Personality: The Prediction of Behavior, Attitude, and Desire to Engage in Casual Sex

Elena Fernández del Río, Pedro J. Ramos-Villagrasa, Ángel Castro and Juan Ramón Barrada
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Elena Fernández del Río: Faculty of Social Sciences and Labour, University of Zaragoza, Calle Violante de Hungría, 23, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Pedro J. Ramos-Villagrasa: Faculty of Social Sciences and Labour, University of Zaragoza, Calle Violante de Hungría, 23, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Ángel Castro: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zaragoza, Calle Ciudad Escolar, 44003 Teruel, Spain
Juan Ramón Barrada: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zaragoza, Calle Ciudad Escolar, 44003 Teruel, Spain

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 15, 1-12

Abstract: Research about sociosexuality, understood as differences in people’s willingness to have sex without commitment in terms of its predictors, such as demographics, relationship status, or individual traits, such as personality, is still scarce. Although sociosexuality was initially considered unidimensional, a tridimensional structure—with behavior, attitudes, and desire as its components—is gaining momentum in the literature nowadays. The present study proposes to develop different predictive models for each dimension, examining the role of personality (i.e., the “Big Five” and the “Dark Tetrad”) and sociodemographic variables. Participants were 991 university students from a Spanish university (75.5% women, 72.0% heterosexual, M age = 20.66). Our results provide evidence that predictors of sociosexuality vary depending on the dimension under analysis. Being female, older, not having a heterosexual orientation, and not being involved in a current relationship predicted higher scores in sociosexual behavior and attitudes. Regarding personality, psychopathy and extraversion were the only traits involved in all three components of sociosexuality. Neuroticism, agreeableness, and conscientiousness also play a role in the prediction of some of the sociosexuality dimensions. These results help to disentangle the relationship between personality and sociosexuality and to design more effective programs and policies to promote sexual health.

Keywords: sociosexuality; personality; Dark Triad; Dark Tetrad; sadism; sociosexual behavior; sociosexual attitudes; sociosexual desire; casual sex (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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