The Behavioral Consequences of HIV Testing: An Experimental Investigation

Abstract

This research examines the behavioral consequences of HIV testing by focusing on whether and how members of a large, increasingly at-risk group (heterosexual young adults) alter their willingness to engage in risky sexual behavior on the basis of their awareness of their own and their potential partners’ HIV risk status. In particular, this research draws on an expected-utility model of risky sexual behavior to test its basic prediction that in certain conditions, changes in risk perceptions induced by HIV testing can result in an increase in risky sexual behavior. The results of two experimental studies using projective scenarios provide general support for the predictions that stem from the expected-utility model, particularly in conditions of low infection likelihood. Moreover, accounting for decision makers’ altruistic impulses in the risky-sex context enhances the descriptive validity of the economic model of risky sexual behavior.