READING ABOUT AIDS AND COGNITIVE COPING STYLE - THEIR EFFECTS ON FEAROF AIDS AND HOMOPHOBIA

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of reading abou t AIDS on fear of AIDS, knowledge of AIDS, and homophobia. Introductor y psychology students read one of three magazine articles: one stressi ng the low likelihood of contracting AIDS through casual contact (reas suring article), one stressing the high likelihood of contracting AIDS through casual contact (alarming article), or a control article that did not mention AIDS. Compared to the control group, subjects who read the reassuring article were lower in fear of AIDS, whereas subjects w ho read the alarming article were higher; the articles had no effect o n knowledge of AIDS or homophobia. In addition, subjects were classifi ed on the basis of their cognitive coping style (high vs. low monitors ) and sex. High monitors tended to be more fearful of AIDS but were ne ither better informed about AIDS nor more homophobic than low monitors . Men were more fearful of AIDS and more homophobic than women.