Reactions to an HIV-Positive Man: Impact of His Sexual Orientation, Cause of Infection, and Research Participants' Gender

Authors: Derlega V.J.¹; Sherburne S.²; Lewis R.J.²

Source: AIDS and Behavior, Volume 02, Number 4, December 1998 , pp. 339-348(10)

Publisher: Springer

Buy & download fulltext article:

Price: $47.00 plus tax (Refund Policy)

Abstract:

The present study examined in a laboratory situation how reactions to an HIV seropositive man may be influenced by his sexual orientation and perceptions about the cause of the infection. Research participants who believed they were interacting with a homosexual compared to a heterosexual person with HIV disclosed less intimately. The men in the study (but not the women) reported more negative affect interacting with a homosexual versus a heterosexual HIV-seropositive male, though women overall reported more negative affect compared to men. Perception of control for the onset of infection interacted with the gender of the research participants to influence self-disclosure and the enactment of social support; men (but not women) made more intimate self-disclosures as well as more “dismissing” social support statements (minimizing the seropositive person's difficulties) when the cause of the infection was uncontrollable than controllable. The results suggest how labels about who is infected with HIV as well as how the HIV was contracted may influence social behavior with an HIV-seropositive person.

Keywords: HIV infection; sexual orientation; cause of HIV infection; gender; social labels; social support; self-disclosure

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Department of Psychology, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529-0267. vderlega@odu.edu 2: Department of Psychology, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529-0267

Publication date: 1998-12-01