Reducing HIV public stigma through news information engagement on social media: A multi-method study of the role of state empathy

Media exposure and news frames have been shown to influence on public stigma and discrimination. However, the mechanisms potentially resulting in HIV public stigma are not fully understood. The purpose of this research was to explore the positive role of state empathy in reducing HIV public stigma through news information engagement. The first cross-sectional study explored the relationships between news information engagement, state empathy, and HIV public stigma. A group of college students (N = 408) were invited to complete self-report measures. The results indicated that state empathy mediated the relationship between news information engagement and HIV public stigma. The follow-up experimental study examined whether reading different news, operationalized as news information engagement on social media, increased or reduced state empathy, which in turn would affect HIV public stigma. The second group of participants (N = 120) was randomly assigned to three experimental conditions (positive, neutral, and negative news). State empathy, HIV public stigma, and HIV/AIDS scientific knowledge were assessed at 20-day intervals to establish the baseline and evaluate post-experiment levels. Significant differences were observed in the three experimental groups. The results suggest that news information engagement is beneficial in reducing HIV public stigma by cultivating state empathy. News articles with positive descriptions and HIV/AIDS scientific knowledge articles reported on social media can be used to develop interventions for reducing public stigma.