The Behavioral Consequences of HIV Testing

Abstract

This paper focuses on the impact of HIV testing for the willingness of at-risk heterosexual young adults to engage in risky sexual behavior based on the awareness of their own and their potential partners HIV status. The key prediction of the utility-based model of risky sexual behavior was investigated. The findings revealed that an individual who has very low probability of being infected with HIV is more willing to engage in risky sex with casual partner who has HIV-negative test results than with a partner who has extremely low appraisal of the likelihood of infections. However no parallel prediction was noted for the willingness of an individual tested as HIV-positive to engage in risky sex with a high-risk casual partner and the willingness to engage in such behavior when both sex partners had a very high probability of being infected. Hence the testing- induced shifts in sexual risk taking at low probability of HIV infection were not affected with the subjects likelihood of engaging in casual sex behavior and having taken an HIV test. Furthermore the study demonstrated the consideration of costs of infection in making risky sex behavior.