ArticleJournal of medical Internet research2020
Inferring Sexually Transmitted Infection Risk From Attractiveness in Online Dating Among Adolescents and Young Adults: Exploratory Study.
Article in Journal of medical Internet research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Awareness and predictors of knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases among early adolescents in koforidua, ghana: a mixed-methods study.Reproductive health · 2025Article
- Sexual health beliefs and prevention of sexually transmitted infections among cisgender women sex workers in Colombia.PloS one · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSexually transmitted infection (STI) rates are on the rise among adolescents and young adults in the United States. With the popularity of online dating, adolescents and young adults must increasingly rely on limited cues to make initial judgments about potential sexual partners, including judgments about STI risk.
objectiveThis study aimed to assess whether in the context of online dating, an attractiveness heuristic would be used for STI risk assessment. We hypothesized that consistent with research on halo effects, decision makers would judge more attractive people to be less likely to have STIs.
methodsIn a survey experiment, we asked participants to determine which individual in each of 20 sets of paired photographs was enrolled in a personals website for people with publicly disclosed STIs.
resultsDespite financial incentives for accuracy and high levels of self-confidence in their judgments, participants performed no better than chance at identifying individuals with self-reported STIs. Contrary to our hypothesis, however, more attractive people were judged as being more likely to have an STI. This relationship appears to be mediated by inferences regarding the target individual's sexual behavior, with more attractive individuals considered to have more partners.
conclusionsOn showing adolescents and young adults photographs offering no diagnostic information about STIs, they appeared to use attractiveness as a cue for sexual risk, which was mediated by the belief that attractive individuals have more sexual opportunities. Health care providers may wish to address this heuristic process among their adolescent patients in discussions about sexual health.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.