[Relationship between embarrassment and stages of change in purchasing or using of condoms]

This research focused on (a) embarrassment at the time of condom purchase or use, and (b) stages of change (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1983) as psychological factors related to the use of condoms. A written questionnaire was completed by 376 university students. For condom purchases, ANOVAs revealed that scores for "intent of behavior" increased as participants moved from the "precontemplation" stage to the "action" stage. The scores for embarrassment, and many factors of embarrassment, were lower in the "action" stage than in the other stages. However, the patterns of condom use scores were unclear. These results indicate that with regard to condom purchases, persons who are in the "preparation" or earlier stages (i.e., persons who are not purchasing condoms) are particularly susceptible to embarrassment.