How Adopting Stereotypical Roles May Impact Sexual Risk Behavior among African American College Women

Abstract

One hundred ten African American undergraduate women attending a predominantly Black and urban university were recruited to participate in this study. Self-report surveys accounting for group demographics, and measures of sexual knowledge, stereotypical role adoption for Black women, and sexual risk-behavior were completed. Pearson product moment correlations and multiple regression analyses were run to assess the relationships among variables. Findings support a significant relationship between stereotypical role adoption for Black women and sexual risk behavior. However, relationships between sexual knowledge, religious attendance and sexual risk behavior were not supported as hypothesized. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.