Chance Health-Orientation and Aids Information Seeking
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13663148 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Judith Price-Greathouse (MHC Associates, corresponding author), Ashton D Trice (West Virginia University) |
| Year | 1986 |
| Volume | 59 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 10-10 |
| Publication date | 1986-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Psychological Reports (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0033-2941 • E-ISSN: 1558-691X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.2466/pr0.1986.59.1.10 |
| PMID | 3737792 |
| OpenAlex | W2329778108 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 2 |
Individuals who do not take responsibility for their health have been found to seek health-related information at a low rate (Wallston & Wallston, 1981). The present study investigated attendance at education sessions on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) by at-risk individuals (sexually active male homosexuals) residing in an area with a low incidence of AIDS and their scores on the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scales (Wallston, Wallston, & Devellis, 1978). Recruited from various social and religious sources 66 individuals who were sexually active beyond a single partner were studied. All subjects were administered Form A of the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scales. Only the Chance subscale predicted subsequent behavior. The Chance subscale has six items on the importance of chance factors in health (e.g., Most things that affect my health happen to be by accident). Scores for this sample ranged from 6 (most internal) to 30 (high chance), with a mean of 15.65 (SD = 5.61). Half scored above the mean and half below. Fifteen (45%) of the external subjects attended one or more of three scheduled informational meetings of which they were informed by mail, while 23 (70%) of the internal subjects attended sessions (x? = 3.97, 9 < .O5). More incernal scorers attended two or more sessions (13) than externals (3), (x2 = 8.25, 9 < .01). At the beginning of the program, the 33 external scorers knew less about the disease (58%) than the 33 internal scorers (67%) on a 25-item objective test. While these differences were nonsignificant (9 = .38), these differences were significant by the end of the program (69% vs 87%; t = 2.63, p = .01). Such findings suggest that a chance-health orientation may identify a group initially less informed who, given their healthorientation, may acquire less information, which places them at considerable risk, given the life-threatening nature of AIDS
Orientation (vector space · Behavioral Health and Interventions · Media Influence and Health · Psychology · Social Psychology
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0.05 |
| Citation span | 1987 - 1993 (7) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |