Reactions to AIDS Victims: Ambiguity Breeds Contempt
- 1 June 1987
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
- Vol. 13 (2), 265-274
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167287132011
Abstract
The present study investigated the causes of negative reactions towards AIDS victims. Fifty-eight subjects rated the personal responsibility and interactional desirability of eight hypothetical disease victims who varied on their sexual preference (homosexual/heterosexual) and on their diagnosis (AIDS/serum hepatitis/Legionnaire's disease/genital herpes). While the homosexual victims were rated more personally responsible for their disease and AIDS victims were rated the least interactionally desirable, no support was found for a victim derogation (Lerner, 1966, 1970) interpretation of these phenomena. The results are interpreted as suggesting instead that the reaction against AIDS victims reflects a fear of the unknown causes of the disease, coupled with a general prejudice against homosexuals.Keywords
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