Student sexual orientation, promiscuity and urban acculturation as factors that influence teacher judgments about HIV+ students

Abstract

AbstractAttributions toward HIV+ adolescents made by teacher education students who graduated from rural or urban high schools were examined. Participants read vignettes in which level of promiscuity and sexual orientation were varied, then completed a rating scale that reflected various attitudes toward HIV+ students. The vignette student labeled promiscuous was blamed and judged more personally responsible for contracting the disease than the non‐promiscuous student. Participants who reported graduating from urban high schools indicated more positive affect and positive attitude toward integration, but also higher levels of fearfulness, than did those from rural high schools. Sexual orientation and the participant's high school location interacted on the need for reporting/precautions variable. Those from urban high schools indicated a higher need for reporting and safety precautions than did those from rural high schools when the HIV+ student was labeled heterosexual. School Psychologists should be aware of the varied factors that are involved in teacher judgments concerning HIV+ students. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 40: 173–182, 2003.