Cynicism, pessimism, and homophobia as predictors of negative attitudes towards people with HIV/AIDS

Abstract

The aim of the research was to examine whether it is possible to predict negative attitudes towards people with HIV/ AIDS with the help of cynicism, pessimism, and homophobia. The sample was convenient and consisted of 100 respondents (M = 20, F = 80), average age 22.63 (SD = 5.04). The following instruments were used for the operationalization of the mentioned constructs: Scale of Pessimism, Scale of Cynicism, and Test of Homophobia (H25). To measure negative attitudes towards people living with HIV/AIDS, we used a subscale of the test which operationalizes the tendency to stigmatize and discriminate against people living with HIV/AIDS. Hierarchical linear regression was used to process the results. Predictors were pessimism, cynicism, and homophobia, while the criteria were negative attitudes towards people with HIV/AIDS. The results show that the first two models were not statistically significant, while the last model, after adding a variable that measures homophobia, becomes significant. The model composed of cynicism, pessimism, and homophobia explains 34% of the total variance (p = .00). Homophobia makes a significant contribution to the prediction, which is also a statistically significant predictor of negative attitudes towards people with HIV/AIDS (b = .54, t = 6.43, p = .00). Pessimism was also a statistically significant individual predictor (b = 20, t = 2.00, p = .05). It can be concluded that higher levels of pessimism and more pronounced homophobia significantly predict negative attitudes towards people with HIV/AIDS.