Claiming HIV Infection From Improbable Modes as a Possible Coping Strategy

Despite the extreme improbability of contracting HIV from oral intercourse, individuals continue to claim seroconversion via such behaviors. Among a sample of HIV‐positive men who have sex with men (MSM), those who attributed contracting HIV from oral intercourse or other non‐anal intercourse sexual behaviors were 5 times more likely to be a racial minority and 2 times more likely to be of lower socioeconomic status. Those believing less in a just world were 2 times more likely to attribute contracting HIV from non‐anal intercourse sexual behaviors. Attributing HIV contraction to improbable modes may be an attractive coping strategy to deflect the stigma more intensely felt among poorer, minority HIV‐positive MSM, and among men who are sensitive to fairness and justice.