Abstract:
The HIV/AIDS epidemic is well into its third decade. Each year since 2002, 50% of all
new HIV infections in the United States have been among young adults (Stine 2008).
This study aimed to both build off previous research, while at the same time employing
new techniques and rationale, such as vignettes and the social contextual construction of
stigma, for explaining HIV stigma. This research entailed examining the differences in
levels of HIV stigma based on the manipulated characteristics (sexual orientation,
occupation as a proxy for class, and mode of contraction) of Jonathan Thompson, a
fictional character, along with the degree of HIV knowledge participants possessed and
personal identity characteristics (sex, religiosity, and age) of participants. Results
indicated that mode of contraction was the only statistically significant independent
variable in this sample. More specifically, participants were more likely to express
judgment and blame as well as avoid intimate interaction with someone like Jonathan
Thompson when that person contracted HIV through unprotected sex or intravenous drug
use. Additionally, participants were more likely to avoid personal interaction with
someone like Jonathan Thompson, when that person contracted HIV through intravenous
drug use. Further, it was found women expressed less judgment and blame, and were less
likely to avoid personal interaction with an HIV positive person. Additionally, older
participants had lower levels of the judgment and blame component of HIV stigma than
younger participants. Finally, the greater the participant’s religiosity the more likely they
were to harshly judge and blame, as well as avoid personal interaction with someone who
was HIV positive. Since this research focused on discovering both individual and
relational mechanisms at work in HIV stigma, the outcomes provide new insight for
educators and health programs to utilize in providing resources and discourse that are
better suited to reduce stigmatization of the illness amongst college students.
