Thought processes associated with reluctance in gay men to be tested for HIV Gold, R.S. and Karantzas, G. 2008, Thought processes associated with reluctance in gay men to be tested for HIV, International journal of STD & AIDS, vol. 19, no. 11, pp. 775-779, doi: 10.1258/ijsa.2008.008228. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads Title Thought processes associated with reluctance in gay men to be tested for HIV Author(s) Gold, R.S. Karantzas, G. orcid.org/0000-0002-1503-2991 Journal name International journal of STD & AIDS Volume number 19 Issue number 11 Start page 775 End page 779 Total pages 5 Publisher SAGE Publications Place of publication London, England Publication date 2008 ISSN 0956-4624 1758-1052 Keyword(s) non-testing for HIV gay men thought processes Summary This study explored the thought processes that are associated with reluctance in gay men to be tested for HIV antibodies. The sample comprised 97 men who had not been tested for at least four years; 69 had never been tested. They were asked to imagine that someone had suggested that they be tested very soon and to identify, from the list provided, any negative thoughts prompted by this suggestion. The most commonly reported thoughts were that testing was unnecessary because risks had not been taken, that it was unnecessary because there were no symptoms, and that there was no urgency to be tested. Data were explored by means of factor analysis and comparisons across subgroups differing in risk level. The results are interpreted as indicating the use of rationalizations to buttress a decision not to be tested, the powerful influence on HIV decision-making exerted by salient perceptible features, and the ‘status quo bias’. Techniques that could be used to encourage testing in gay men are discussed. Language eng DOI 10.1258/ijsa.2008.008228 Field of Research 170106 Health, Clinical and Counselling Psychology Socio Economic Objective 970117 Expanding Knowledge in Psychology and Cognitive Sciences HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal Copyright notice ©2008, SAGE Publications Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30017422 Document type: Journal Article Collections: Faculty of Arts and Education Faculty of Health School of Psychology Higher Education Research Group Related Links Link Description Connect to published version (restricted access) Go to link with your DU access privileges     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Versions Version Filter Type Fri, 14 Aug 2009, 13:53:09 EST Thu, 17 Dec 2009, 15:46:46 EST Thu, 17 Dec 2009, 15:47:51 EST Thu, 17 Dec 2009, 15:50:02 EST Thu, 17 Dec 2009, 15:50:50 EST Mon, 16 Jun 2014, 11:50:25 EST Tue, 08 Jul 2014, 15:39:05 EST Tue, 08 Jul 2014, 15:40:31 EST Fri, 26 Sep 2014, 13:10:57 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 12 times in TR Web of Science Cited 12 times in Scopus Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 1012 Abstract Views, 1 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Fri, 14 Aug 2009, 13:53:09 EST