title: Risk perceptions of people living with HIV/AIDS: how similarity affects optimistic bias.
abstract: Little as known about how people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH/A) assess their vulnerability to non-HIV related risk factors, and how this judgement is affected by perceived similarity with others. This study indicates not only that PLWH/A are optimistically biased in their risk pereceptions, but also that they do not use others' HIV status to assess similarity. Perceived similarity with others, however, affects risk judgements: greater the perceived similarity with others, greater the tendency to judge others' vulnerability relative to one's own. Findings point to the importance of considering similarity as a key variable in understanding how risk assessments are made by persons with chronic health conditions.
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA. lapinsk3@msu.edu
authors.forename: Maria Knight
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Lapinski
authors.forename: Rajiv N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Rimal
authors.forename: Katherine A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.forename: Hillary C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Shulman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D020276:HIV Long-Term Survivors / Q000523:psychology*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008824:Michigan; D008875:Middle Aged; D018570:Risk Assessment; D055815:Young Adult