Self-justification prevents unsafe sex

Two groups of gay men were given different behavioral interventions with the goal of decreasing unsafe sex. The first group was exposed to a standard poster encouraging condom use, while the other group participated in an intervention focused on self-justification. In the self-justification condition, participants were asked to recall in detail a sexual encounter in which they had engaged in unsafe sex and provide a justification for their actions. Participants were also asked to judge how reasonable their justification seemed and their current thoughts on the subject. In the self-justification group, significantly fewer men later engaged in two or more acts of unsafe sex when compared to the poster condition