Effects of mortality salience and perceived vulnerability on HIV testing intentions and behaviour

Research indicates that death thoughts that occur in response to health threats affect subsequent health behaviour. The present study examined the effects of mortality salience on HIV testing.

After reading an article that was intended to make them perceive that they had high or low vulnerability to HIV, participants wrote about death or an aversive control topic. Participants then indicated their intentions to get tested for HIV and were given the opportunity to take an HIV test at the end of the study.

Results showed that mortality salience increased testing behaviour among participants who were made to feel vulnerable to HIV, but decreased testing behaviour among participants who were not made to feel vulnerable to HIV infection.

This research suggests that HIV prevention programmes must carefully consider how the association many people make between HIV and death may interact with people's perceptions of their vulnerability to HIV infection to affect their willingness to engage in preventative behaviours.