A new study has found that people are more inclined to look after their sexual health if there is some kind of financial reward involved. You might naturally assume that people are motivated primarily by looking after their own wellness and wellbeing, but the research has shown that that is not the case at all.
The recent research, published in the European Journal of Health Economics actually pinpoints an exact monetary amount which they have shown would incentivise people to stay clear of HIV and STIs.
Researchers studied men who have sex with other men, including male sex workers, in Mexico City, and found out what monetary value it would take for the participants to agree to be tested regularly for HIV and also to enroll in a sexual health awareness program in order to reduce their risk of contracting HIV or another STI.
The study shows that paying out a small amount of cash can have an impact on people’s sexual health. Cash can also be paid out as a reward for taking care not to catch the HIV infection by altering behaviour, for example, by not sharing needles or by using condoms. This cash incentive gives people the opportunity to think a bit more carefully about their behaviour and can therefore make a big difference to the risks they take.
In conjunction with this, the study also showed that those individuals who were wealthier and more educated were less likely to be interested in a cash incentive due to the fact that they already have the money to get tested and are less desperate for cash, so will be unlikely to be drawn in by such a scheme.
In order to be vulnerable to such an incentive, the reward has to be vulnerable to such an incentive.
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