Do risk, time and prosocial preferences predict risky sexual behaviour of youths in a low-income, high-risk setting?
通过在津巴布韦开展激励性经济实验，测量风险、时间和亲社会偏好，发现基线时的利他偏好能预测12个月后女性感染HSV-2的风险，而性伴侣数量与男性的风险容忍度和女性的不耐烦程度相关。
Young people in sub-Saharan Africa are particularly at high risk of sexually transmitted infections. Little is known about their preferences and even less about their association with risky sexual behaviour. We conducted incentivized economic experiments to measure risk, time and prosocial preferences in Zimbabwe. Preferences measured at baseline predict biomarker and self-reported measures of risky sexual behaviour gathered 12 months later. We find robust evidence that individuals more altruistic at baseline are more likely to be Herpes Simplex Virus Type-2 (HSV-2) positive 12 months later. Analysis by sex shows this association is driven by our sample of women. Having more sexual partners is associated with greater risk tolerance amongst men and greater impatience amongst women. Results highlight heterogeneity in the association between preferences and risky sexual behaviour.