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Open Access Thesis

Keywords

AIDS phobia; HIV-positive persons--Social conditions; Stigma (Social psychology);

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if knowledge of a male or female individual's sexual orientation and HIV status was an indicator of perceived attractiveness and social acceptance by college students. A male and female actor were recruited to film short videos portraying either gay or straight and either HIV-positive or HIV-negative individuals. The eight separate videos were then observed by eight randomly selected groups of college students in human sexuality classes. It was hypothesized that the video subjects perceived to be either gay or HIV-positive would be perceived as being less attractive and that college students who viewed a subject as less attractive also would have stronger beliefs in social constructs that may facilitate prejudice against a person who is gay or HIV-positive. The subjects in each group were asked to complete a survey relating to perceived "attractiveness" of the individual on the video and their personal beliefs concerning several social constructs. Respondents were asked about personal beliefs concerning Just World Beliefs, Fear of Contagion, Proximity, Authoritarianism, Religiosity, and Homophobia. By analyzing mean scores on an "attractiveness" scale and for each of the social constructs, comparisons were made between groups on perceived "attractiveness" and belief in the social constructs. The study sample consisted of mostly white, heterosexual, 20-24 year old students (N = 247). The actor rated most attractive was the heterosexual, HIV-positive female and the actor rated least attractive was the heterosexual, HIV-negative female. Chi-square analysis of gender differences in mean scores on social constructs indicated that males were more homophobic, had stronger Just World beliefs, and had stronger fears of being near someone who is HIV-positive. In this sample there were no gender specific differences observed concerning Fear of Contagion, Authoritarianism, and Religiosity. Pearson Correlation Coefficients were calculated and indicate the strongest correlations between Homophobia, Fear of Contagion, Just World beliefs, and Proximity. Religiosity and perceived attractiveness correlated rarely with the other social constructs. While the research hypothesis was not supported, there is some indication that negative impressions of the video subjects may be due to perceived promiscuity and risky sexual behavior by the "normal-appearing" video subjects.

Year of Submission

1993

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

School of Health, Physical Education, and Leisure Services

First Advisor

Susan J. Koch

Second Advisor

Sue A. Joslyn

Third Advisor

Joel Wells

Comments

If you are the rightful copyright holder of this thesis and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit a request to scholarworks@uni.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL.

Date Original

1993

Object Description

1 PDF file (109 leaves)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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