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.

撒哈拉以南非洲地区的年轻人感染性传播感染的风险尤其高。人们对他们的偏好知之甚少，更不知道他们与危险性行为的关系。我们进行了激励经济实验来衡量津巴布韦的风险、时间和亲社会偏好。基线测量的偏好可预测 12 个月后收集的生物标志物和自我报告的危险性行为测量值。我们发现强有力的证据表明，基线时更加无私的个体在 12 个月后更有可能出现 2 型单纯疱疹病毒 (HSV-2) 阳性。按性别进行的分析表明，这种关联是由我们的女性样本驱动的。拥有更多的性伴侣与男性的风险承受能力更强以及女性的不耐烦程度有关。结果凸显了偏好与危险性行为之间关联的异质性。