The Behavior of Same-Race Others and Its Effects on Black Patients’ Attention to Publicly Presented HIV-Prevention Information

ABSTRACT

Black Americans make up 13% of the U.S. population, yet account for 54% of HIV deaths and 44% of new HIV diagnoses. Why do Black Americans die from HIV at such a disproportionate rate? In the current study, we asked whether the presence and behavior of in-group peers in public health settings may influence Black Americans’ attention to HIV information, given the racialized nature of HIV-stigma in Black American communities. In a quasi-experimental field study conducted in a public health clinic (N = 260), we found that Black patients were less likely to pay attention to HIV-prevention information in the presence of other Black patients, unless those patients were also paying attention to the information. In contrast, Black patients’ attention was unaffected by the presence of White patients. We end by discussing the implications of these findings for health communication theories and health practice geared toward reducing racial-health disparities in the United States.

Supplemental Material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website

Notes

1. Because the study was designed to examine health disparities between Black and White Americans, participants of other races (e.g., Asian Americans; n = 21) were not included as targets in the analyses, but were coded as “other race” audience members.

2. Pilot testing with 41 clients confirmed that observer perception of patient race and participant’s self-reported race are highly related (χ² = 41.00, p <.001).

3. Although the coder was privy to the content of the videos being played, the coder had no knowledge of the specific research questions.

4. Because this simple effect was not predicted and is unrelated to our central research questions, we opted to avoid overinterpreting it.

5. We also examined the attending behavior of other patients as the moderating variable (in contrast to ignoring behavior). That analysis is suggestive of a dose–response curve such that more Black patients paying the highest level of attention does increase attention for other Black patients. However, sample size constraints (n = 26) prohibit us from making strong claims about this. That is, only 26 Black patients paid the highest level of attention to the videos so we are hesitant to make strong claims based on so few people.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a grant to A. Earl from the National Institute of Mental Health [F31 MH086324].