Men’s Gender Attitudes and HIV Risk in Urban Malawi

Rachael S. Pierotti, University of Michigan

Recent research demonstrates that men’s sexual health behaviors are influenced by their gender attitudes, including their images of how “real men” behave and their beliefs about proper gender roles and relations between men and women. This study extends that research, quantitatively testing the theory in Malawi for the first time, and expanding the analysis to include new outcomes. The findings indicate that, in comparison to men who adhere to unequal gender ideologies, men with more equitable gender attitudes report fewer sexual partners, are less likely to have recently experienced symptoms of an STI, and are more likely to have ever been tested for HIV. In short, gender attitudes are associated with sexual health behaviors implicated in HIV risk. In addition, men’s subjective assessment of their HIV risk is negatively associated with their gender attitudes; men with more equitable gender attitudes feel less at risk of HIV.