The Association of Self-Esteem and Sensation Seeking with Sociosexual Orientation and Sexual Risk-Taking

People tend to differ in sociosexual orientation (i.e., attitudes, behaviors, and desires about casual sexual relationships) and the inclination to engage in risky sexual behavior (i.e., unprotected sex with short-term partners). Regarding casual sexual relationships, some people (a) have a more positive attitude about them, (b) desire them more, and (c) have them more. Relatedly, some people take sexual risks more than others. Personality variables have been associated with sociosexual orientation and sexual risk-taking in prior research, but the associations have been inconsistent. Given that casual sexual relationships tend to be more prevalent on university campuses, we used a sample of undergraduate students to examine associations between personality, sociosexual orientation, and sexual risk-taking. Specifically, we were interested in whether self-esteem has an indirect association with sociosexual orientation through extraversion, and whether sensation seeking has an indirect association with condom use through sociosexual orientation. Participants ( N = 160) completed an online survey, which included measures of the Big Five personality traits, narcissism, self-esteem, sensation seeking, sociosexual orientation, and condom use. Self-esteem was positively associated with extraversion, and in turn, extraversion was positively associated with sociosexual orientation. Sensation seeking was positively associated with sociosexual orientation, and in turn, sociosexual orientation was negatively associated with condom use. Interestingly, the direct association of self-esteem with sociosexual orientation was negative. Self-esteem was positively associated with condom use, and sensation seeking was negatively associated with condom use. Results may be helpful to sexual health educators and university counselors.