UVM Theses and Dissertations
Format:
Print
Author:
Richardson, Susan Elizabeth Varni
Dept./Program:
Psychology
Year:
2009
Degree:
PhD
Abstract:
Understanding attitudes towards people with HIVIAIDS is an important part of understanding how the stigma of HIV/AIDS is translated into prejudice and discrimination. The purpose of this study was to investigate how people's explicit and implicit HIV/AIDS attitudes affected their decisions of a trial where an employee with AIDS accused his employer of discriminatory firing. Results showed that the facts of the case were the prevailing force in deciding whether an employer was guilty of discriminating against an employee with AIDS and how much money should be awarded to the employee because of this discrimination. However, different combinations of implicit and explicit prejudice predicted different perceptions of how guilty the employer was of discrimination. The implications of attitudinal ambivalence toward people with HIV/AIDS in both inside and outside of the courtroom are discussed.