PSC In The News
Kalousova and Burgard find credit card debt increases likelihood of foregoing medical care
Pierotti finds shift in global attitudes on intimate partner violence
Highlights
Arline Geronimus wins Excellence in Research Award from School of Public Health
Yu Xie to give DBASSE's David Lecture April 30, 2013 on "Is American Science in Decline?"
U-M grad programs do well in latest USN&WR "Best" rankings
Sheldon Danziger named president of Russell Sage Foundation
Back in September
Follow us Response of Malawians’ Sexual Behavior to Information about HIV Transmission Risks
a PSC Small Grant Research Project
Investigator: Jason Kerwin
Despite substantial investments in the promotion of safer sex, Southern Africa has continued to experience a severe HIV epidemic, and condom use remains rare in the region. This project will explore a new potential HIV prevention strategy: providing information about the true risk of HIV transmission from an infected sex partner, which is lower than most people believe. Some believe that decreasing perceived per-act risks should increase how much risky sex people have. A number of people in Malawi, however, appear to exhibit “fatalistic” behavior - their high beliefs about the transmission rate of HIV have led them to decide they must already have the virus. Telling these people the true per-act risk would lead them to realize they probably do not, and therefore to decrease their risk-taking. My project will directly examine the extent of each pattern of behavior, using an experiment that provides information about HIV transmission risks to randomly-selected people from Malawi’s Zomba District.
| Funding: | PSC Initiatives Fund Marshall Weinberg International Travel Fund |
Funding Period: 03/01/2012 to 06/30/2013
Country of Focus: Malawi
Support PSC's Small Grant Program