Individual difference correlates of HIV serostatus among heterosexual and homosexual men

On the basis of the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills Model of AIDS Risk and AIDS Preventive Behavior, the present research investigated the hypothesis that AIDS prevention information and AIDS prevention motivation are linked with HIV serostatus. Seventeen HIV+ Israeli men (7 heterosexuals and 10 homosexuals) and 38 matched HIV - Israeli men (20 heterosexuals and 18 homosexuals) completed measures of objective knowledge of sexuality, self-perceived knowledge of sexuality, and erotophobia/erotophilia, which were used as marker variables for objective AIDS prevention information, self-perceived AIDS prevention information, and AIDS prevention motivation. HIV+ men, regardless of their sexual orientation, scored significantly lower on the marker of objective information, significantly higher on the marker of self-perceived information, and significantly lower on the marker of motivation than was true of HIV - men. Findings are discussed in relation to the need for interventions that emphasize AIDS prevention information and AIDS prevention motivation as means of primary and secondary prevention, and the need for prospective research to clarify causal and reactive relationships between HIV serostatus and prevention information and motivation.