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A Preliminary Examination of Sexual Orientation as a Social Vulnerability for Experiencing HIV‐/AIDS‐Related Stigma 1
Author(s) -
GONZALEZ ADAM,
GROVER KRISTIN W.,
MILLER CAROL T.,
SOLOMON SONDRA E.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2011.00756.x
Subject(s) - sexual orientation , psychology , stigma (botany) , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , vulnerability (computing) , homosexuality , self disclosure , clinical psychology , social psychology , social rejection , social stigma , coping (psychology) , developmental psychology , psychiatry , medicine , social relation , immunology , computer security , computer science , psychoanalysis
This investigation is a preliminary examination of sexual orientation as a social vulnerability for experiencing HIV‐/AIDS‐related stigma, specifically concerns about disclosure and public attitudes. Participants were 36 heterosexual men and 82 gay men with HIV/AIDS. Consistent with predictions, a heterosexual sexual orientation was significantly associated with HIV/AIDS disclosure concerns. This effect was evident after controlling for various demographic variables, CD4 T‐cell count, time since HIV diagnosis, self‐esteem, and coping styles. Also as predicted, similar levels of enacted stigma were evident, regardless of sexual orientation. Further work is needed to understand the process of HIV/AIDS disclosure for heterosexual men with this illness and to differentiate the experience of HIV‐/AIDS‐related stigma among gay and straight men with HIV/AIDS.