“…The extant literature examining individuals' own HIV risk appraisals indicates that the relationship between perceived and actual risk is complex, and that perceived risk is only weakly associated with what is classified as actual risk according to epidemiological correlates (Gerrard, Gibbons, & Bushman, 1996;Holtzman, Bland, Lansky, & Mack, 2001;Kesler et al, 2016;Klein, Elifson, & Sterk, 2003;Klepinger, Billy, Tanfer, & Grady, 1993;Koh & Yong, 2014;Maurier & Northcott, 2000;Mayer et al, 2012;Prata, Morris, Mazive, Vahidnia, & Stehr, 2006;Siegel, Lekas, Onaga, Verni, & Gunn, 2017). Of particular note is that in many cases, the main element used by individuals in assessing risk is the perceived personal characteristics of their sexual partner.…”