HELPING A FRIEND WITH AIDS: A TEST OF WEINER'S ATTRIBUTIONAL THEORY IN KUWAIT.

Two studies conducted in Kuwait examined two models from the attribution-affect-action theory. The theory suggests that an individual's decision to help someone with AIDS is determined by his or her affective reactions of pity and anger, which are determined by an attribution of responsibility (model 1). Help giving, according to the theory, is not determined by causal attribution without the influence of emotion, especially when the person in need is a friend (model 2). In the first study, the two models were tested in a sample of 309 men from Kuwait University who read two vignettes about a friend with AIDS. The same two models were examined in the second study, but with a sample of 308 Kuwaiti women college students who also read two vignettes about a friend with AIDS. The implications of the findings for people living with AIDS are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]