Factors Determining South African Construction Workers’ Prejudice towards and Discrimination against HIV+ Persons

Abstract

AbstractStigma and fear of discrimination are powerful deterrents against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody testing. Prejudice and discrimination against people living with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) are deterrents to their willingness to disclose their status and thereby avail themselves of treatment. Stigma impairs employees’ general well-being, affecting their work capacity, and thus directly impacting upon project management success. Little is known about construction workers’ prejudice towards and discrimination against HIV+ persons, and the determinants thereof. A field-administered questionnaire survey gathered data from 512 site-based construction employees in the Western Cape, South Africa. Following bivariate and regression analyses of the survey response data, a structural equations model comprising demographic factors, lifestyle risk, substance use (alcohol consumption and drug use), knowledge about HIV/AIDS, and attitudinal fear of testing is posited to explain preju...