communicative and disclosing with their partner regarding sexual preferences tended to be more satisfied with both their sexual relationship and their interpersonal relationship than were individuals, regardless of gender, who were not self-disclosing or communicative.
This finding was reinforced in a study by Buysse and Ickes (1999) who focused on interactions about safer sex between partners in close relationships as compared with those between opposite sex strangers. These researchers commented that safer sex negotiation is considered crucial for the implementation of safer sexual behavior in dating partners' sexual scripts. In both stable and casual relationships (or longer versus shorter term relationships), but especially in relationships perceived as close, intimate, and likely to lead to a long-term commitment, communication regarding sexual history and safe sex practices was more generally forthcoming.
Individuals in both casual or short-term sexual relationships and those in more intimate and longer-term relationships were also found by Buysse and Ickes (1999) to be concerned with partner selection issues. Partner selection was found by these researchers to require an extensive evaluation of a potential partner's sexual risk history. The authors found that about three-fourths of young people engaged in partner selection talked about safer sex practices and personal sexual history.
However, though younger people and sexually active men and women are apparently very likely to communicate openly about these topics, only 21 percent to 27 percent reported discussing monogamy, condom use, or their sexual history with their sexual partners before having sex. What this suggests is that many young people entering into a sexual relationship discuss safer sex and other matters relatively casually and that only after a casual sexual relationship begins to develop into a more romantic and involved relationship wil...