The link between social identity, sexual behavior and the quality of life of people resident in Elandsdoorn, South Africa.

Abstract

Social identity and sexual behavior provide important insight into understanding the quality of life of the HIV positive population. Individuals living with HIV may be performing more risky sexual behavior and have a more negative social identity, which may result in a poorer quality of life. This study sought to examine this relationship by answering the following research question: “To what extent do social identity and sexual behavior relate to the experienced quality of life and does this relationship differ between HIV positive and HIV negative people in Elandsdoorn, South Africa?”. In total, 198 participants (HIV positive: n = 53, HIV negative: n = 145) filled out two questionnaires in order to assess their quality of life, sexual behavior and social identity. A Multiple Regression Analysis (MRA) was used in order to understand the influence of the independent variables, which are sexual behavior and social identity, on the dependent variable, which is the quality of life, whilst controlling for age, gender and partnership status. Overall, no difference was found in the experienced quality of life between the HIV positive and HIV negative population. Also, it was found that, for this specific sample, sexual behavior is not influencing the experienced quality of life of people who are HIV positive or HIV negative. When looking at social identity it becomes clear that this variable does have some influence on the experienced quality of life, but only for the HIV negative population