the vignette methodology is better able to collect the social meanings derived from actions than interview questions, because often impressions that are formed about another's actions are not conscious attitude formations. Behavior interpretation often occur through automatic and intuitive means (Collins, 1997; lecture). While most research directly asks participants what they think, person perception studies a more subtle means of gaining the participants reactions.
             The current study used a person perception test to evaluate the attitudes of participants about women in a sexual relationship when she either proposed a condom, or said nothing about contraception, while expressing either concern or saying nothing about her emotional state. There were four different possible types of situations that the male observers could have been given: the "concerned" female who did not propose a condom, the "concerned" female who said, "I have a condom with me," the female who said nothing and did not propose a condom, and the female who said nothing about her emotional state, but said she had a condom with her. These females were then evaluated by male observers on various aspects of her perceived personality. Males rated the females on such items as, if they were active or passive, if they were promiscuous or not, etc. No other research has addressed a sexual situation where women talk about their feelings and present a condom in a person perception paradigm. It will be interesting to see how the male participants assess the situation.
             This study used six different scales comprised of separate items in order to accurately assess the perceptions the male observers held about the female targets. The scales were a "Sexual attractiveness" scale, which determined how sexually attractive the woman was, a "Responsibility" scale, which determined the extent to which the woman was respon...