ABSTRACT
Partner communication about safer sex, or the discussions and negotiations that sexual partners have with one another about their sexual histories, AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and condom use, is both a fascinating and a vitally important topic of study. Why is this topic so important? We would argue that to fail to understand these communication practices would be to fail to understand
sexual interactions at large, and if, how, whether, and why safer sex is integrated into such interactions. In addition, if we lack an understanding of these sexual interactions, we will likely fail in creating interventions that eff ectively promote safer sexual behavior.
