Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of shame and guilt on risky sexual behavior for men who have sex with men (MSM). MSM are at disproportionately high risk for contracting HIV and prior research on shame and guilt has demonstrated that shame leads to escape and avoidant behaviors, while guilt leads to reparative actions. Data was collected via online self-reports assessing risky sexual behavior, demographic information and guilt and shame proneness. Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Tests and Spearman's correlation tests were used to determine if significant differences exist between shame and guilt prone MSM. No statistically significant differences were found among shame-prone and guilt prone participants ( n = 158). However, Wilcoxon-MannWhitney Tests demonstrated a statistically significant difference in rates or risky sexual behavior for participants who reported having STIs compared with participants who reported being STI free. Participants who reported having STIs also reported engaging in significantly higher rates of risky sexual behavior. Clinical implications, strengths and limitations of the findings are also discussed.