Influence of Gender and Locality on the Attitude of Adolescents Towards AIDS
Some theories have been propounded and this is aimed at helping us understand how attitudes are formed. Thus, many theories have been postulated by numerous scholars, but only a few will be presented in this discussion for the purpose of convenience.
LEARNING THEORY: According to learning theorist, attitudes are acquired inn the same way as other types of behaviour (McGuire, 2005). They emphasize the importance of factors in the formation of attitudes. The learning theories believes more importantly that attitudes are acquired in the same ways as facts, concepts, ideologies, habits, and ways of thinking are acquired. We lean facts, we also lean emotions that go with them. It is the pairing of facts with emotions that result in the development of attitudes. This can be done through classical conditioning, operant condition or modeling (observational learning).
Emotional response can be elicited be numerous environmental stimuli. A new stimulus is able to elicit the same emotional responses as the old stimulus. If the new stimulus becomes associated with the old one. Thus if an individual experiences unpleasant feelings when he is exposed simultaneously to a loud noise and electric shock, then, the words that are repeatedly will be associated with the noise and the shock will also elicit an unpleased emotional response. Stoats & Crawford (2002), for example, stated that individuals who were subjected to loud noise or electric shock every time they hear the word “large” developed a negative attitude towards the word. Along the same line, Zanna, Kiester & Pilkonis (2000) conducted another experiment using the word “light” and “dark” and obtained similar results. Hence, an attitude may develop indirectly from an emotional association with another attitude. Research indicated that food preferences are, infact, influenced by classical conditioning (Rozinard & Zellner, 2005). In operant conditioning, Insko (2005) showed that Hawaii undergraduate University students who were reinforced developed wither positive or negative attitude toward an attitude effect. Social learning theories on the other hand has shown how observing others particularly parents, peers and characters on television can change our attitude (Bandura & Walters, 1985).
Linking the theory with attitude towards PLWHA, one could say that negative attitude towards PLWHA could be attributed to the fact that most people pair HIV with promiscuity.
Though HIV can be contracted through other means such as blood transfusion, mother to child, etc it is believed that the commonest means is through unprotected sexual intercourse with infected person. Borrowing leaf from this theory, pairing of HIV with immoral act (promiscuous) breeds negative attitude towards those infected with the virus. Also because of this issues surrounding the virus many adolescents hold different attitudes towards the virus.
COGNITIVE THEORIES OF ATTITUDE
This theory believe that we form our attitude based on internal thought and reasoning. According to Daryl Bens (2002) self perception theory, people do not always know how they think or feel about all issue. As a result they sometimes infer attitudes from observing their own behaviour. The cognitive consistency theory asserts that people have a strong need to feel that their attitudes match and are in harmony with one another.
In line with this statement, most people develop negative attitude towards PLWHA because most people share the same reasoning and perception towards people living with HIV/AIDS. Heidler developed the balanced theory of attitude formation while Feastinger (1957) developed the cognitive dissonance theory which states that we feed tension whenever one discovers that he/she has inconsistent thoughts or cognition. The congruity theory is related to Heider’s balance theory and it was postulated by Osgood & Tantenbaum (1995). According to these investigators, the principle of congruity governs all human thinking. This principle stated tat changes in evaluation or attitude always occur in the direction of increased congruity with the existing frame of reference (Osgood & Tannebann, 1995). In other words our attitudes change so that inconsistency is reduced or eliminated and is achieved.
Congruity theory is basically concerned with the ways an individual evaluation of an object affects another persons attitudes. For instance, different people in a society have different attitude, towards certain kinds of behaviour such as rape, armed robbery or murder and HIV/AIDS.
Finally, a summary of these theories reviewed above may indicate that, learning theory holds that our attitudes are shaped by conditioning. Cognitive approaches, such as Heiders balance theory and congruity theory suggests that, we seek overall cognitive system in which attitude is used to keep behaviour and cognition in balance.
DEFINITIONS OF ATTITUDE
How much we like or dislike something has much to do with determining our behaviour toward that. We tend to approach, seek out or be associated with things we like. We also avoid, shun or reject things we do not like. Attitudes therefore are simply expressions of how much we like or dislike a thing(s) or project(s). They represent our evaluation references toward a wide variety of attitudinal objects (Morgan, King, Schillz & Wesz, 1985). According to Sdorow (1995) attitudes are evaluations of ideas (such as insanity defense,), events (such as surprise parties). Objects (such as abstract art) or people (such as sorority members). Drever (2008) define attitude as a more or less stable set or disposition of opinion, interest or purpose involving expectance of certain kind of experience and readiness with an appropriate response.
It is sometimes used in wider sense but rather less definitely as in aesthetic attitude in the sense of a tendency to appreciate or produce artistic result or social attitude in the sense of being sensitive to social relations, social duties or social opinions. Other psychologists have also described attitude to mean different thing. Among these scholars are Kretch & Cruthfield (2002) who define attitude as an enduring organization of motivational, emotional, perceptual and cognitive process with respect of individual’s world. Bartleet (2002) has reduced the phenomena of perception, judgment, memory, learning and thought largely to operations of attitudes. This explanation tends to recognize that the way one perceives, judges, learns is a function of ones attitude. According to Green (1992) attitude as a concept does not refer to any specific act or response but is an abstraction from a large umber of related acts or response is sufficient to determine an individual’s attitude rather it involves many related responses o acts. All port (1973) while broadly identifying attitude asserted that an altitude is a mental and neutral state of readiness organized through experience exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individual’s responses to all objects and situation with which it is related.
Thurstone (2000) defined attitude as the effect for and against a psychological object implying that attitude can refer to effective reaction of an object. Fishbein (2003) sees attitudes as a persons evaluation of an act or behaviour towards specific act and is proposed t be a function of acts perceived consequences and their value to that person. The underlining factor here is that attitude towards a particular object or event is influenced by the personal experience of the individual.
In summary, an attitude is a learned predisposition to response consistently in a positive or negative way to some person, object or situation (Petty, Ostrom & Brock, 2001). Huffman, Vernory, Karen & Vernny (2001) asserted that an attitude has three basic components. These are the cognitive component which represents thoughts or beliefs. The affective components which reflects feeling or emotional reaction and the behavioural component which described tendencies or predisposition toward certain actions based on a particular attitude.
EMPIRICAL REVIEW ON ATTITUDE OF ADOLESCENTS TOWARDS AIDS:
Various studies have been conducted in relation to attitude towards HIV& AIDS and people living with HIV&AIDS. According to Barunji, Kaluma, Burkilya & Kosajo (2002), family members play an important role in providing care and support to people living with HIV/AIDS. In this endeavor they are faced with psychological problems and their attitude toward the people living with HIV/AIDS fluctuates. This increases stigma an lowers the quality of support the people living with HIV/AIDS receive. In carrying this study, 40 “families’ 30 of which has people infected with HIV and 10 of had patients with full blown AIDS, (five died dunning the course of study) were studies or a period of 18 months. The study was done by observation, questionnaires and interviews which addressed factual issues about HIV/AIDS especially transmission, care and support feelings towards patients, their sexual partners and children, the role of the counselor in providing psychological support. Issues on how the present situation could be improved were also addressed. The questionnaires and interviews were administrated to family members, relatives ad any other can providers. Findings revealed that most of the family members believed that AIDS is still secret issue, a taboo family members should not discuss openly. Their psychological reactions range from blaming, bewilderment, anger, confusion and resentment towards patients. This culminates into dissention self blame among family members, stigmatization, poor understanding, acceptance and support of the people living with HIV & AIDS. The negative reaction increases as the disease advances. The counselor’s supportive role is paramount but not adequate. They highlighted the need for more care focused community initiated interventions and intensive education programs to supplement the counselors role in reducing psychosocial problems and stigma (Barunji, Kaluma, Bunkwija & Kasoji 2002).
In a similar study, Niemice, Preeelawska & Chagan (20060 gathered information about the attitude of polish women toward HIV/AIDS and determine if there was relationship between social-demographic variables, altitudes and opinions expressed. One thousand and three hundred and eighty five woman in reproductive age (N = 1385; 15-49 YEARS) from three different religion of Poland were interviewed regarding their altitudes towards people living with HIV & AIDS, perceived risk for HIV/AIDS prevention and AIDS – related knowledge. The participants demonstrated a hostile altitude towards HIV infected peoples, especially to women, and low level of AIDS knowledge. However, there was little evidence of avoidance of high-risk sexual behaviours. Overall, polish women had reactively liberal views about people with HIV although majority felt freedom. Finding suggests that there is no close match between what is epidemiologically accepted as risk behaviour and what respondents regarded as risk behaviour. Age, marital status, educational status and locality appeared to be significant determinant of altitudes towards people living with HIV/ AIDS, while religion and income were not. In conclusion findings indicate the need for a comprehensive AIDS education programme to improve the knowledge and change the altitude toward people living with HIV/ AIDS in Poland.
To show that HIV/AIDS – related stigma has persisted world-wide for decades. Studies on the linkage between stigmatizing attitudes towards people living with HIV / AIDS (PLWHA) and misconceptions about HIV transmission routes in the general population, especially among youth in china was carried (zhang, li, mao, Stanton, zhao, wang & mahur, 2008). Cross sectional data from 1,839 students from 19 colleges were collected by trained interviewers using a structural questionnaire in yiangusu province of china. The study reveals that there is a high proportion of college students having both stigmatizing altitude towards AIDS and people living with HIV/ AIDS and misconceptions about HIV transmission routes. Multiple regression analysis results show that having stigmatizing altitudes towards AIDS and people living with HIV / AIDS is positively associated with having misconceptions about scores were more likely to posses stigmatizing altitudes towards AIDS. The study recommend that HIV / AIDS education should be strengthened among the general population especially among youth to reduce stigmatizing altitudes towards people living with HIV / AIDS and AIDS virus (Zhang, et al, 2008).
