This project will describe the nature, extent, and social psychological underpinnings of AIDS-related stigma and attitudes toward people with AIDS (PWAs) among the U.S. public through a national telephone survey with a population-based sample. In addition, the project will monitor aggregate and individual changes in AIDS stigma over time, and will identify the demographic, psychological, and social predictors of such change. The project's specific goals are: (1) to describe the current extent of general AIDS- related stigma in the U.S. public; (2) to describe current public images of AIDS and people with AIDS; (3) to describe differences between Black and White Americans in AIDS-related stigma; (4) to identify current linkages between AIDS-related stigma and public attitudes concerning other stigmatized groups, and to assess differences in AIDS stigma associated with different sexual orientation, genders, races, and transmission routes; (5) to identify the motivations that currently underlie AIDS-related stigma and attitudes toward PWAs; (6) to assess the extent to which these motivations play a role in attitude change and stigma reduction; (7) to assess the association between individuals' level of AIDS stigma and their personal contact experiences with PWAs and with members of groups associated with AIDS; and (8) to identify changes in AIDS-related stigma over of 2-year period, and to identify social psychological variables that predict changes in individuals' AIDS-related stigma. In the project's first year, a national telephone survey will be conducted with a probability sample of English-speaking U.S. adults (n=1500) and an additional oversample of African American adults (n=500). In order to monitor the changing nature of AIDS stigma, a second wave of data will be collected approximately two years later from one-half of the Wave 1 sample (750 from the general population sample, 250 from the Black oversample) and 1000 new respondents (750 in the general population sample, 250 in the Black oversample). The data from the proposed research will directly address empirical questions about AIDS stigma posed by NIMH (1993) and will have both practical and theoretical value. At a practical level, the results will offer ideas for effectively incorporating stigma reduction into AIDS prevention programs that target the American public. At a theoretical level, the findings will permit testing of the applicability to AIDS of social psychological theories of attitudes and stigma, using national probability samples. In addition, the findings will ultimately be used by the applicant to formulate and test a theoretical model of illness and stigma. Research results will be disseminated to both scientific and lay audiences through a variety of channels at regular intervals.
| Herek, Gregory M; Capitanio, John P; Widaman, Keith F (2003) Stigma, social risk, and health policy: public attitudes toward HIV surveillance policies and the social construction of illness. Health Psychol 22:533-40 |
| Herek, Gregory M (2002) Heterosexuals attitudes toward bisexual men and women in the United States. J Sex Res 39:264-74 |
| Herek, Gregory M; Capitanio, John P; Widaman, Keith F (2002) HIV-related stigma and knowledge in the United States: prevalence and trends, 1991-1999. Am J Public Health 92:371-7 |
