Psychology of the misuse and rejection of contraception

Individual Differences in Attitude‐Behavior Consistency: The Prediction of Contraceptive Behavior

“…Sex guilt has been found to inhibit sexually-related behaviors in a variety of contexts. It also has been shown that obtaining a method of birth control may show a commitment to and a preparedness for sex that may arouse guilt (Cvetkovich, Grote, Bjorseth, & Sarkissian, 1975;Sandberg & Jacobs, 1972). Thus, while sex guilt may not deter sexual activity, it has been found to inhibit the use of contraception (Gerrard, 1977;Upchurch, 1978) and to be related to the use of less effective contraception or methods that are only used by the male partner (Geis & Gerrard, 1984;Leary & Dobbins, 1983;Mosher, 1973).…”

An alternative contraceptive method: Fertility awareness

“…6 This need for repeated decision-making may be part of the reason for a 2 year drop-out rate of approximately 50 percent for each of the contraceptive methods. 2 In a study by Wood, 38 one in four women found all contraceptives frightening. Adjectives used to describe the methods were: unnatural, tense, messy, frightening, unsafe, repulsive, sad, and difficult.…”

The fertility history card Clinical use in improving contraceptive efficacy

“…An influential study presented by Sanberg and Jacobs 13 in 1971 hypothesized that unconscious psychological motives were responsible for contraceptive misuse. Dubbed the “intrapsychic conflict theory,'’ it assumes that although women have access to and possess the knowledge and skills for effective contraception, they choose not to use them because of conflicting desires to manifest fertility while not wanting to have a child.…”