Savage! Actually, we tested this because some scientists thought the opposite. That is, people would seek more sex partners because they were rather sexually unresponsive and needed high novelty, or risk, to get their motors running. Having a low or high threshold for sex cues suggests very different prevention efforts.

And absolutely partner count alone does not confer risk. This is a long-standing challenge (e.g., even 0 condom use is fine with a partner who is tested). We used partner count because it has been reliably associated with infection rates. So, no, partners alone doesn't mean people are necessarily risky...but it is much more likely that they are.

Thanks for the read!