Attitudes Toward a Homosexual or Heterosexual Person with AIDS¹

It is concluded that simply increasing public knowledge about AIDS is not enough to ensure a more supportive, social environment for persons with AIDS.

Abstract

The research compared attitudes toward a homosexual or heterosexual male described as being healthy or as having terminal cancer, venereal disease, or AIDS. University students reacted to one of eight written descriptions of the target individual depicted in a photograph. Results indicated that attitude were least favorable when the subject was male, when the target was homosexual, and when the target had venereal disease or AIDS. In the AIDS condition, subject knowledge about AIDS was positively related to evaluations of a person with AIDS, but not to the desire to interact with him. Social distance responses toward a person with AIDS were not influenced by the target's sexual orientation. AIDS‐phobia and homophobia are suggested as important explanatory variables. It is concluded that simply increasing public knowledge about AIDS is not enough to ensure a more supportive, social environment for persons with AIDS.