AIDS as Threat, AIDS as Stigma correlates of AIDS beliefs among the Dutch general public

Abstract

m e central question of this article is whether findings about social and cultural correlates of preventive and public attitudes towards AIDS that were found in other western countries are also valid for the Netherlands. Answering this question contributes to the international accumulation of empirical knowledge about attitudes of the general public and might as well be relevant for the international transfer of knowledge about the public into assumptions of information campaigns. Eight hypotheses derived from international literature were tested on data of the 1987 module of "Cultural changes in the Netherlands," a general opinion survey of the Dutch population (16-80 years old). In line with international research, younger age and more education are correlated with preventive knowledge and social acceptance; however sex and urbanization do not make a difference in the Netherlands As expected, a negative attitude towards homosexuals is related to a lack of acceptance of people suffering from AIDS, support for mandatory screening for HIV, as well as a lack of preventive knowledge. Also in accordance with earlier research, "authoritarian attitudes" are far more important in explaining the public attitudes than beliefs about AIDS as an individual threat.

Stigma and rejection: Living with aids in villages in southern Thailand

“…In general, in industrialized countries, AIDS is linked to homosexuality (however it is defined in popular discourse) (Bennett 1987;Pryor et al 1991;Decker and Mootz 1992;Goldin 1994). Gay men are stigmatized as having AIDS; AIDS is stigmatized as a homosexual man's punishment for his practices.…”

The Effect of Medical Authoritarianism on Physicians' Treatment Decisions and Attitudes Regarding Chronic Pain1,*

“…There is also evidence linking a conservative political ideology with more negative attitudes toward members of stigmatized groups and individuals who engage in deviant behaviors. In the general population, higher levels of RWA are associated with more negative attitudes toward drug abuse, mental health services, people with AIDS, and the unemployed (Dekker & Mootz, 1992; Furr, Usui, & Hines‐Martin, 2003; Peterson, Doty, & Winter, 1993; Peterson, Duncan, & Pang, 2002). These findings are mirrored by research conducted among medical students, in which MA was associated with negative attitudes toward stigmatized social groups (e.g., chronic pain patients, hypochondriacs, alcoholics, substance abusers) and more pessimistic beliefs about their ability to treat these patients successfully (Merrill et al., 1995).…”