Behavioral economics and safe sex: Examining condom use decisions from a reinforcer pathology framework

Abstract

Condom use substantially reduces unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. While condom availability is a significant public health priority, effects of condom availability constraints remain relatively under‐researched. The limited research on condom availability suggests two major barriers to use: (1) effort/costs and (2) delay to access. To date, we are aware of no study that explores both demand for and discounting of condom availability; the focus of this study was to account for condom decisions using a reinforcement pathology framework. This study used a condom purchase task and the Sexual Delay Discounting Task to quantify behavioral economics of condom use. Low sexual discounting was associated with higher willingness to engage unprotected sex. Demand metrics suggest participants indicating abstinence at condom breakpoint were willing to pay nearly double for condoms relative to individuals indicating unprotected sex at breakpoint. Finally, we grouped participants into reinforcement pathology risk groups based on their discounting and demand indices; these groups significantly differed in self‐reported number of sexual partners, unprotected sexual partners, and Sexual Desire scores. This study demonstrates the value of behavioral economic approaches to public health concerns, and further underscores the translational benefits of quantitative metrics to shed novel light on risky health decisions.

The Influence of College Students' Acquisition of Sexual Knowledge on New Media Platforms on Their Willingness to Voluntarily Take Contraceptive Measures When They Have Sex - Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior

“…Foreign scholars' research on media and sex education and sexuality dates back as far as the 1980s and 1990s, and may be related to the earlier spread of sex education abroad, which is important for our country to absorb the essence from both the spread of sex education and research. Harsin, Gelino and Strickland's (2021) study not only notes the following major barriers, such as energy consumption, delayed access, and financial burden, but also verified that low discounted contraceptives is significantly correlated with higher willingness to engage in unprotected sex, which has essential implications for the hypothesis regarding perceived behavioral control proposed in this study [5]. In addition, two theories mentioned in Brown's (2002) study that are also instructive for this study are Cultivation Theory and Social Learning Theory [6].…”

Behavioral Economic Demand: How Simulated Behavioral Tasks Can Inform Health Policy

“…Other research has shown how cost can impact decisions to engage in protected sexual activities (e.g., use of condoms in casual sexual encounters). A synthesis of findings (see Dolan et al, 2020; Harsin et al, 2021; Strickland et al, 2020) underscores the importance of low-cost, easily accessed condoms to maximize the likelihood of timely and appropriate use. These findings show how ongoing CPT applications can show how substantive public health benefits can be reached by a keener understanding of seemingly small environmental changes (e.g., reducing the burden on obtaining condoms in commercial spaces).…”

A behavioral economic demand analysis of mothers' decision to exclusively breastfeed in the workplace

“…Demand is often analyzed in a demand curve, which displays the functional relation between the amount of a commodity/activity consumed and its price. Demand analysis has been used to quantify the likelihood of initiating and continuing other health‐related behaviors, such as treatment selection (Gilroy & Feck, 2022; Gilroy et al, 2022), drug use (e.g., Jacobs & Bickel, 1999; MacKillop et al, 2008; Murphy & MacKillop, 2006), food intake (e.g., Epstein et al, 2010, 2018), problematic technology use (e.g., Hayashi & Blessington, 2021; Hayashi et al, 2019a, 2019b), risky sex (e.g., Dolan et al, 2020; Harsin et al, 2021; Jarmolowicz et al, 2016; Strickland et al, 2020), medication adherence (e.g., Jarmolowicz et al, 2019, 2020), and exercising (e.g., Anokye et al, 2012). In a typical demand task, consumption is quantified by the amount of a commodity/activity consumed at a given price, but it can also be quantified by the probability of a commodity/activity consumed (Roma et al, 2016, 2017).…”