Risk Perceptions
We included several measures of risk perceptions to test H1 (i.e., that self-affirmation would increase risk perceptions). First, participants were asked to rate out of 100 how likely they thought it was that they were HIV-positive or had another STI at the time of the study. Participants were given training on the scale and checks for understanding were performed before measuring the subjective expectations of the participants. Next, three items assessed participants’ perceptions of contracting HIV in the future: the probability that: (a) they would be HIV-positive in a year; (b) they would contract HIV from unprotected sex with an HIV-positive person; and (c) they would contract HIV through unprotected sex with an HIV-positive person, given they already had an STI. Finally, we asked how many times participants had used condoms in their last five sexual encounters, based on the logic that reporting more frequent condom use would suggest greater acknowledgement of HIV/STI risk. The reported probability of contracting HIV from someone who is HIV-positive and the probability of contracting an STI through unprotected sex were highly correlated, and were thus combined and averaged (Table 