SOME DEMOGRAPHIC CORRELATES OF HIV/AIDS-RELATED DISCRIMINATION

In late 1991, a survey was made of HIV/AIDS-related discrimination in the Australian community. Structured telephone interviews were conducted with a random sample of 2,053 respondents. Twenty-one questions provided an index of expressed discrimination. Social contact with HIV-positive people was a significant predictor of low levels of discrimination. Other important predictors of (lower) levels of discrimination were: social contact with gay men, education, sex, age, sexual identity, and sexual experience. Social contact with gay men was the single best predictor of positive attitudes rewards people with HIV/AIDS.