The Illusion of Unique Invulnerability and the Use of Effective Contraception

Abstract

It was proposed that one reason people often fail to use effective contraception methods is that they engage in a systematic distortion of their likelihood of being involved in an unwanted pregnancy relative to others. A survey of undergraduate females found that sexually active women tended to see themselves as less likely than other students, other women their age, and women of childbearing age to become pregnant. The tendency to utilize this illusion of unique invulnerability was related to the use of effective contraception. The more subjects discounted their chances of becoming pregnant relative to others, the less likely they were to use effective methods of birth control.