This project will combine survey methodology with social psychological theory to investigate the sources and correlates of Americans' attitudes and beliefs concerning the AIDS epidemic, and the influence of these variables on behavior. Like other national surveys, the research will describe Americans' attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. The research will differ from most other work in this area, however, in its added emphasis upon the social psychological factors that influence these variables, including processes related to stigma and prejudice, social cognition and decisionmaking, and the psychological functions served by attitudes. The research also will be innovative in its broad definition of AIDS-related behavior: in addition to assessing high-risk sexual and drug-related behaviors, the survey will examine AIDS related social behaviors, including stigmatizing, avoidant and altruistic behaviors. Additionally, the project will assess the differential influence of social and psychological variables on perceptions of AIDS in different strata of American society, with special attention devoted to comparing the reactions of White and Black Americans to the epidemic. Focus groups and individual interviews will be conducted in eight different states to provide current data for further refining a survey instrument developed and tested by the Principal Investigator in previous research. The final survey will be administered by telephone to a probability sample of English-speaking American adults (n-1500), with an additional oversampling of Black Americans (n-500). In order to monitor trends and new developments in public attitudes, beliefs, and behavior, a second wave of data will be collected after one year from one-half of the initial respondents and an equal number of new respondents. In addition to its theoretical value for social and behavioral scientists, the research will provide guidelines for designing general and targeted AIDS-education programs, offer ideas for reducing AIDS-related stigma among the American public, and reveal trends in attitudes, beliefs, behavior, and the social psychological processes-that underlie them. Research I results will be disseminated to both scientific and lay audiences through a variety of channels at regular intervals.
| Herek, G M; Capitanio, J P (1993) Public reactions to AIDS in the United States: a second decade of stigma. Am J Public Health 83:574-7 |
