Mr. right versus Mr. right now: A discounting-based approach to promiscuity

• A novel discounting task assessed choices between hypothetical sexual partners.
• Choices to wait for the most preferred but delayed partner decreased with delay.
• Hyperboloid model of delay discounting fit these choices well.
• Higher rates of sexual discounting were observed in men than women.
• Rates of sexual discounting were correlated with sexual risk factors.

Research has begun to examine how individuals discount delayed sex. However, these tasks have not evaluated the dimension of sexual behavior associated with promiscuity (i.e., choices between partners). The current study assessed choices between hypothetical sexual partners within a delay discounting paradigm. Participants first completed a preference assessment featuring pictures of hypothetical sexual partners. These rankings were then used to present hypothetical choices between immediate sex with a less preferred partner or sex with the most-preferred partner after a series of delays. These choices titrated through the partner rankings from the preference assessment. Data were well fit by the hyperboloid model of discounting. Area under the curve (AUC) measures were calculated for all participants’ discounting of sex. AUC was higher for those with more sexual partners and was correlated with measures of sexual risk behavior.