Aids Stigma and Contact With Persons With Aids

Effects of Direct and Vicarious Contact. 1

Bibliographic Data

ID23348574
AuthorsGregory M Herek (University of California, Davis, corresponding author), John P Capitanio (0000-0002-3680-1323, University of California, Davis)
Year1997
Volume27
Issue1
Pages1-36
Publication date1997-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Applied Social Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-9029 • E-ISSN: 1559-1816
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1559-1816.1997.tb00621.x
OpenAlexW2011980237
LanguageEN
Citations received73
References cited45

This paper examines the relationship between AIDS‐related stigma and (a) direct, personal contact with people with AIDS (PWAs), and (b) vicarious contact—through mass media—with a public figure with AIDS or HIV. Data are presented from a 2‐wave national telephone survey with a probability sample of US. adults (ns = 538 at Wave 1; 382 at Wave 2) and an oversample of Black Americans (ns = 607 and 420, respectively). Direct contact with a PWA was associated with less support for coercive AIDS policies, less blame for PWAs, and less avoidance of PWAs. Vicarious contact–operationalized as the self‐reported impact of Earvin “Magic” Johnson's disclosure of his HIV infection–appeared to have its greatest impact among respondents who previously had manifested high levels of stigma. In that group, levels of stigma diminished somewhat to the extent that respondents reported having been strongly influenced by Johnson's announcement.

Blame · Family medicine · Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) · Operationalization · Psychiatry · Sexual contact · Stigma (botany) · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · Clinical Psychology · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Medicine · Psychology · Social Psychology