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Corruption involves greed, money, and risky decision-making. We explore the love of money, pay satisfaction, probability of risk, and dishonesty across cultures. Avaricious monetary aspiration breeds unethicality. Prospect theory frames decisions in the gains-losses domain and high-low probability. Pay dissatisfaction (in the losses domain) incites dishonesty in the name of justice at the individual level. The Corruption Perceptions Index, CPI, signals a high-low probability of getting caught for dishonesty at the country level. We theorize that decision-makers adopt avaricious love-of-money aspiration as a lens and frame dishonesty in the gains-losses domain (pay satisfaction-dissatisfaction, Level 1) and high-low probability (CPI, Level 2) to maximize expected utility and ultimate serenity. We challenge the myth: Pay satisfaction mitigates dishonesty across nations consistently. Based on 6500 managers in 32 countries, our cross-level three-dimensional visualization offers the following discoveries. Under high aspiration conditions, pay dissatisfaction excites the highest- (third-highest) avaricious justice-seeking dishonesty in high (medium) CPI nations, supporting the certainty effect. However, pay satisfaction provokes the second-highest avaricious opportunity-seizing dishonesty in low CPI entities, sustaining the possibility effect-maximizing expected utility. Under low aspiration conditions, high pay satisfaction consistently leads to low dishonesty, demonstrating risk aversion-achieving ultimate serenity. We expand prospect theory from a micro and individual-level theory to a cross-level theory of monetary wisdom across 32 nations. We enhance the S-shaped Curve to three 3-D corruption surfaces across three levels of the global economic pyramid, providing novel insights into behavioral economics, business ethics, the environment, and responsibility. WOS:000951258300001

Aflatoxins pose significant food security and public health risks, decrease productivity and profitability of animal industries, and hamper trade. To minimize aflatoxin contamination in several crops, a biocontrol technology based on atoxigenic strains of Aspergillus flavus is commercially used in the United States and some African countries. Significant efforts are underway to popularize the use of biocontrol in Africa by various means including incentives. The purpose of this study was to develop quantitative pyrosequencing assays for rapid, simultaneous quantification of proportions of four A. flavus biocontrol genotypes within complex populations of A. flavus associated with maize crops in Nigeria to facilitate payment of farmer incentives for Aflasafe (a biocontrol product) use. Protocols were developed to confirm use of Aflasafe by small scale farmers in Nigeria. Nested PCR amplifications followed by sequence by synthesis pyrosequencing assays were required to quantify frequencies of the active ingredients and, in so doing, confirm successful use of biocontrol by participating farmers. The entire verification process could be completed in 3–4 days proving a savings over other monitoring methods in both time and costs and providing data in a time frame that could work with the commercial agriculture scheme. Quantitative pyrosequencing assays represent a reliable tool for rapid detection, quantification, and monitoring of multiple A. flavus genotypes within complex fungal communities, satisfying the requirements of the regulatory community and crop end-users that wish to determine which purchased crops were treated with the biocontrol product. Techniques developed in the current study can be modified for monitoring other crop-associated fungi.

In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), diverse fungi belonging to Aspergillus section Flavi frequently contaminate staple crops with aflatoxins. Aflatoxins negatively impact health, income, trade, food security, and development sectors. Aspergillus flavus is the most common causal agent of contamination. However, certain A. flavus genotypes do not produce aflatoxins (i.e., are atoxigenic). An aflatoxin biocontrol technology employing atoxigenic genotypes to limit crop contamination was developed in the United States. The technology was adapted and improved for use in maize and groundnut in SSA under the trademark Aflasafe. Nigeria was the first African nation for which an aflatoxin biocontrol product was developed. The current study includes tests to assess biocontrol performance across Nigeria over the past decade. The presented data on efficacy spans years in which a relatively small number of maize and groundnut fields (8–51 per year) were treated through use on circa 36,000 ha in commercially-produced maize in 2018. During the testing phase (2009–2012), fields treated during one year were not treated in the other years while during commercial usage (2013–2019), many fields were treated in multiple years. This is the first report of a large-scale, long-term efficacy study of any biocontrol product developed to date for a field crop. Most (>95%) of 213,406 tons of maize grains harvested from treated fields contained 90%) contained 80% less aflatoxin content than untreated crops. The frequency of the biocontrol active ingredient atoxigenic genotypes in grains from treated fields was significantly higher than in grains from control fields. A higher proportion of grains from treated fields met various aflatoxin standards compared to grains from untreated fields. Results indicate that efficacy of the biocontrol product in limiting aflatoxin contamination is stable regardless of environment and cropping system. In summary, the biocontrol technology allows farmers across Nigeria to produce safer crops for consumption and increases potential for access to premium markets that require aflatoxin-compliant crops.

Aflatoxins pose significant food security and public health risks, decrease productivity and profitability of animal industries, and hamper trade. To minimize aflatoxin contamination in several crops, a biocontrol technology based on atoxigenic strains of Aspergillus flavus is commercially used in the United States and some African countries. Significant efforts are underway to popularize the use of biocontrol in Africa by various means including incentives. The purpose of this study was to develop quantitative pyrosequencing assays for rapid, simultaneous quantification of proportions of four A. flavus biocontrol genotypes within complex populations of A. flavus associated with maize crops in Nigeria to facilitate payment of farmer incentives for Aflasafe (a biocontrol product) use. Protocols were developed to confirm use of Aflasafe by small scale farmers in Nigeria. Nested PCR amplifications followed by sequence by synthesis pyrosequencing assays were required to quantify frequencies of the active ingredients and, in so doing, confirm successful use of biocontrol by participating farmers. The entire verification process could be completed in 3–4 days proving a savings over other monitoring methods in both time and costs and providing data in a time frame that could work with the commercial agriculture scheme. Quantitative pyrosequencing assays represent a reliable tool for rapid detection, quantification, and monitoring of multiple A. flavus genotypes within complex fungal communities, satisfying the requirements of the regulatory community and crop end-users that wish to determine which purchased crops were treated with the biocontrol product. Techniques developed in the current study can be modified for monitoring other crop-associated fungi.

Models of learning style or approaches to learning have been operationalized in the Learning Process Questionnaire (LPQ). Guided by an assumed framework, the authors examine the construct validity of the LPQ in Botswana and investigate the similarities and differences in the process of learning in a non-Western context. Six structural equation modeling are used to test the association between cross-cultural variability and learning. Responses to this instrument are shown to have good internal consistency reliability, and support is provided for its construct validity in terms of its factorial structure. Results further reveal support for dimensions of deep and surface strategies, despite the differences in learning conceptualizations. The strategies utilized by students in the Western educational context are similar to those used by their African counterparts. Taken together, the interaction of gender and culture, makes us propose a relationship between culture, learning and life adaptations, thus extending the concept of learning style to account for the influence of culture. Tentatively, conceptual issues in learning process and suggestions for further research are presented.

Aflatoxin is a potent mycotoxin that can cause cancer, stunted growth, and (in extreme instances) rapid death. Aflatoxin can contaminate many staple crops, including maize and groundnuts. As many as 4.5 billion people in the developing world may be chronically exposed. Scientists at the United States Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Resource Service, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), and African Agricultural Technology Foundation have developed a biological control product called Aflasafe. IITA is currently working with the AgResults initiative to promote widespread adoption of Aflasafe in Nigeria and with the Aflasafe Technology Transfer and Commercialization Program to promote Aflasafe adoption in 11 African countries. In the fall of 2016, 902 oral surveys were administered to smallholder maize farmers in Nigeria. The survey was developed to obtain data regarding farmer awareness of aflatoxin and Aflasafe. At least 88% of farmers who head heard of aflatoxin claimed to recognize the negative health impacts of aflatoxin consumption on human and animal health. Private sector players were critical sources of information about Aflasafe for farmers. First-time users of Aflasafe persisted more frequently in purchasing the product in future growing seasons in some states than others. Stronger relationships between farmers and input suppliers seemed to increase the likelihood a farmer would repurchase. Farmers who purchase Aflasafe bundled with other inputs appeared more likely to repurchase than farmers who purchase Aflasafe stand-alone.

Xhosa‐speaking South African children in school settings face several academic and emotional challenges. These may be due to family obligation, conformity to authority figures and over expectations from parents, teachers and society. This study examines the differences in the number and types of reported fears and worries in 200 South African children and adolescents, between 14 and 18 years of age. Responses to a questionnaire investigating the inventory of fears and worries revealed significant differences in the number, pattern and level of fears. The participants endorsed school fears at higher levels than their Senegalese, Australian, Nigerian and American counterparts. Girls and children of low‐income homes tend to exhibit higher levels of fears than children of upper‐class homes. When interpreted within the cultural context, results further indicate that the number of fears decreased with age and that cultures that have fear‐producing stimuli, and that favour inhibition and obedience serve to incre...

In a series of studies we investigated the validity of PASCI and explored the congruence in five geographical entities. The present study has been conducted with the aim to know the self-esteem of participants who were students. Due to inconsistent and indeterminate findings, business researchers and cross-cultural scholars have failed to take into account possible interaction between culture/gender and social behaviour (self ). Through analyses of variance, we provide evidence, that nationality yielded highly significant levels of self-esteem. This result was interpreted as adding credence to the view that studying the self is important across cultures. The findings are mirrored in the individualism-collectivism dimensions and reasons for these findings are discussed. In addition, suggestions for future research may lead to Lithuanian data that might be valued as an important mediating factor that can influence other important psychological and behavioural outcomes such as job satisfaction and employee retention in organizations.

How is the cultural construct of individualism-collectivism relate to self-esteem? This is a complex and challenging proposition. Self-esteem (i.e., a person’s global, evaluative view of his/her self), has resisted unequivocal definition or clear operationalization. There is a substantial literature on self-esteem hypothesis which may be stated thus: self-concept and self-esteem play important roles in a person’s decisions to engage in certain behaviour. Due to inconsistent and indeterminate findings, business researchers and cross-cultural scholars, have failed to take into account possible interaction between culture/gender and social behaviour (self). Through analyses of variance, we provide evidence, that nationality yielded a highly significant levels of self-esteem with a distinctive statistically significant main and interaction effects. This result is robust to different benchmarks (for example, Hofstede’s cultural indicators) used to measure self-esteem. The results are consistent with previous research, the cross-cultural stability of the measure makes it a potentially useful tool for evaluating the nature of self-conception across cultures. Caveats and implications are discussed.

Demonstrating the equivalence of constructs is a key requirement for cross-cultural empirical research. The major purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how to assess measurement and functional equivalence or invariance using the 9-item, 3-factor Love of Money Scale (LOMS, a second-order factor model) and the 4-item, 1-factor Pay Level Satisfaction Scale (PLSS, a first-order factor model) across 29 samples in six continents (N = 5973). In step 1, we tested the configural, metric and scalar invariance of the LOMS and 17 samples achieved measurement invariance. In step 2, we applied the same procedures to the PLSS and nine samples achieved measurement invariance. Five samples (Brazil, China, South Africa, Spain and the USA) passed the measurement invariance criteria for both measures. In step 3, we found that for these two measures, common method variance was non-significant. In step 4, we tested the functional equivalence between the Love of Money Scale and Pay Level Satisfaction Scale. We achieved functional equivalence for these two scales in all five samples. The results of this study suggest the critical importance of evaluating and establishing measurement equivalence in cross-cultural studies. Suggestions for remedying measurement non-equivalence are offered.

A total of 421 parents from four Southern African countries (Nambia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) estimated their own and their children’s multiple intelligences. There were consistent country and sex differences in self-estimates. Nambians tended to give lowest self-estimates and Zambians highest self-estimates. Contrary to previous findings from other continents females gave higher self-estimates than males on all seven multiple intelligences. These results were mirrored in the estimation of children: females gave higher scores than males and Zambians gave highest estimates and Nambians lowest. Reasons for these findings are discussed.

No significant ethnic group differences were found in the academic motivation or learning strategies of more than 200 White and 200 Black South African students from two recently integrated secondary schools. Both groups considered working hard and having interest in school tasks to be more important than competition or affiliation. The former items tended to be the best predictors in both groups of the use of deep learning strategies, which are known to be prerequisites for high-quality learning outcomes. The motivation scales tended to be better predictors of learning strategies for the Black students.

Behavior change is the only available means of curtailing new HIV infections in South Africa. This study investigated the relationship between sexual risk taking and attitudes to AIDS precautions. The participants were about 25% white, about 30% colored/mixed blood and 45% black in their second year in polytechnics (413 females and 402 males). Participants responded to the 40-item HIV-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviors. Data indicated that young women showed more positive attitudes to AIDS precautions than young men (reflecting in part the stereotypic negative attitudes of young men toward condoms). In general, most males and females were found to have less knowledge about HIV transmission and less favorable attitudes toward safe sex behavior than their counterparts in the west. Also young men with more partners expressed more fatalistic attitudes toward AIDS. The possibility that a finergrained multivariate analysis of attitudes to AIDS and safe-sex behaviour is something that needs to be taken s...

Published findings regarding child abuse in Africa is scarce and in its infancy. Nevertheless, consideration is warranted to identify implementation process stages for a protocol to be used by child protection practitioners in Africa. Children must be protected against the imperfect world that adults have created with its dangers, its wars, its violence, its shootings, its inequalities, its injustices. African children become symbols of the good which needs to be protected against the powerful, against evil ones — molesters, batterers, exploiters, child abusers, who take advantage of innocent children and treat them in selfish, cruel, inhumane, indifferent, callous ways.

Young children and adolescents that grow up in communities where violence is epidemic face great risk for pathological development (other than being violent themselves). Because growing up in a constant state of siege and apprehension makes it difficult to establish trust, spiritual values autonomy, and social competence all children need. Practical understanding of the negative effects of anger and exposure to violence on male children are presented. Furthermore, the need for interventions that are both individual centred and environmental centred along with the notion that one intervention approach does not fit all are also advanced. Detailed recommendations for effective culturally relevant psychoeducational policy initiatives and optimal anger replacement (client‐based) strategies for mental health professionals, early childhood educators and violence prevention experts are offered.

Although laws protecting children from abuse have become commonplace at least since the colonial era, the legal concept of “mandatory reporting” is relatively new in Africa. The author argues that child abuse refers to more than physical injuries—the term encompasses a compilation of significant events, that interact with the child's ongoing development to interrupt, alter, or impair her or his psychological development. This article provides a selective review of child abuse and emphasizes the need for standard procedures for referral, medical provisions, and legal reporting. Toward this end, issues of establishing the dimensions of child maltreatment were reviewed in order to understand the social and cultural nature of child abuse. Recommendations are offered for integrating critical issues for the present and future development of child abuse into practica training, legislation and scope of practice.

Citizens of 9 different English-speaking countries (N = 619) evaluated the average, or typical, citizen of 5 English-speaking countries (Great Britain, Canada, Nigeria, United States, Australia) on 9 pairs of bipolar adjectives. Participants were drawn from Australia, Botswana, Canada, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, the United States, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. There were statistically significant similarities in the rankings of the 5 stimulus countries on 8 of the 9 adjective dimensions and a strong convergence of autostereotypes and heterostereotypes on many traits. The results relate to previous stereotyping research and traditional methods of assessing the accuracy of national stereotypes.

Autism is not a rare disorder, it is then, more common than Down syndrome, multiple sclerosis or cystic fibrosis, childhood cancer, or Fragile X syndrome. During the early school years, the needs of the child with a disability center on acquiring appropriate academic skills. The present study assessed the utility of presenting multiple cues when teaching an abstract concept such as colors to three children with autism. By the use of a multiple‐baseline design, three cue conditions were studied: Plain, Label and Symbol. Results indicated that colours presented with cues were easier to learn than without the assistance of cues. Findings support the need for sensitivity for the highly individualized learning styles of youngsters with autism. Further research based on probes with a solid colour is recommended as a matter of urgency so that a more definitive assessment of children with autism may be made.

This paper suggests a model for the relationships between poverty and violence. It argues that exposure to violence may lead to more high‐risk behaviors in adolescence and adulthood. Children who grow up in dangerous environment, know what it means to be poor. This article offers a psychoeducational framework for understanding the complex issues posed by the damaging effects of violence and poverty on children. The paper concludes by suggesting school‐based prevention programs that aim at reducing anger/violence, poverty and providing support to Black families. Implications for early childhood policy making are briefly discussed.

In this study, I investigated the possibility of significant priming effect of two neuropsychological tests — the Category Test and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Although previous analyses of the order effects in the administration of the two tests among American sample have suggested that administering the Category Test first may not have a priming effect on the WCST, however, corresponding analyses among non‐Western children have not yet been undertaken in any satisfactory manner. I obtained the counterbalanced order effects in the administration of both tests on like‐aged sample of 63 African children (normally‐achieving, low‐functioning and learning‐disabled) enrolled in various elementary schools. The results suggested that the priming effect of the Category Test on the WCST was not statistically significant, but there appeared to be a significant effect of set‐shifting instructions only for the WCST. These results expand current understanding of priming effect and suggest the need for assessing child...

This article assesses the cross‐cultural models of approaches to learning. Using the Learning Process Questionnaire (LPQ; Biggs, 1987), a 36‐item, self‐report questionnaire, on a sample of 612 Urban South African students to measure the extent to which students endorse different approaches to learning by identifying the motives and strategies that comprise those approaches, and the generalizability of the findings of greater male variability based on purely biological interpretations of gender differences. Results uphold cross‐cultural support for the dimensions of deep and surface strategies to learning. However, it appears despite the differences in learning conceptualizations, the strategies utilized by students in the Western educational context are similar to those used by their African counterparts. In addition, there was considerable unsystematic variation in variability in approaches to learning from country to country, with greater male variability in learning strategies than females in some coun...

This study focuses on culturally endorsed implicit theories of leadership (CLTs). Although cross-cultural research emphasizes that different cultural groups likely have different conceptions of what leadership should entail, a controversial position is argued here: namely that attributes associated with charismatic/transformational leadership will be universally endorsed as contributing to outstanding leadership. This hypothesis was tested in 62 cultures as part of the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) Research Program. Universally endorsed leader attributes, as well as attributes that are universally seen as impediments to outstanding leadership and culturally contingent attributes are presented here. The results support the hypothesis that specific aspects of charismatic/transformational leadership are strongly and universally endorsed across cultures.

The purpose of this study was to test the appropriateness of a multidimensional, hierarchically ordered model of self‐concept for an African sample. I explored this possibility in 215 Xhosa‐speaking young children in South Africa. Responses to a standard Self Description Questionnaire‐I (SDQ‐I) revealed, the item‐scale correlations and reliability coefficients obtained were encouraging. These results are then considered within the framework of exploratory factor analysis, in relation to other evidence of the cross‐cultural validity of both the SDQ‐I and the R.J. Shavelson, J.J. Hubner and G.C. Stanton (1976) model of self‐concept. Findings also showed a multidimensional academic and social self‐concept structure that becomes increasingly differentiated and a heirarchical ordering that becomes defined with gender and culture. Significantly, Xhosa youngsters thus evidenced more tendency to have relatively better opinions of their personal appearance (social self‐concept) when their means were compared to th...

Fears are among the most common and the most treatable of all anxiety disorders. This article explores the fears and phobias of childhood from a behavioural perspective. Current research reveals that, fears and phobias are separate but interrelated concepts and experiences. Many childhood fears are mild, age‐specific and transitory. Others are more extensive and persist beyond normal developmental periods. School phobia is a complex phenomenon which children evince for a number of reasons, including separation anxiety, fear of the school environment, and situation and other school‐related worries, Unlike most childhood phobias which are overcome with or without professional help, severe school refusal is difficult to manage. Despite vast literature on the efficacy of behavior modification, reports of success in the South African context are rare, where the emphasis still appears to be on medico‐physiological “treatments”.

This paper examines the appropriateness for African children of the self‐monitoring intervention procedure. The results of the effects of self‐monitoring in children with autism using the frequency of reinforcement and play are reported. Tentative comparisons of the African data with those of previously reported American children of the same age indicated that the children sampled were more similar in terms of greater play behavior demonstrated by each child during the self‐monitoring condition. Overall the results very largely mirror those from a similar survey of children with autism (Handleman & Harris, 1984).

Previous research has demonstrated that in many instances, maternal dominance is associated with a significantly higher number of male births in humans, non‐human primates and ungulates. To further explore this association the Simple Adjective Test, a self‐report personality test designed to measure dominance in women, was completed by 35 Black women in early pregnancy. Results showed that above average dominance was again associated with the birth of male offspring (Mann Whitney U, p

In sub‐Saharan Aftica, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) that causes AIDS is transmitted mainly through vaginal sexual intercourse and vertical transmission, with contaminated blood transfusions and needle exchange contributing to a smaller extent. In a survey conducted among students attending colleges within two African countries. The survey assessed the extent that these students practiced sexual behaviors which place them at risk for transmitting or contracting the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Respondents 17‐year old and over enrolled in early childhood education completed questionnaires similar to the instrument used by Akande and Ross, (1994) and Crawford et a). (1990). Data collected and compared indicated that there were no gender or cultural differences in knowledge of AIDS. Furthermore, female respondents in both countries perceived that susceptibility to risks contributed significantly to the variance in their sexual risk with casual partners. The findings are discussed with referen...

The perceptions of self may differ from one cultural context to another. I explored this possibility in 191 South African children between 12 and 13 years of age. This paper is an extension of research on the appropriateness of Marsh/Shavelson model of self-concept for the nonWestern subjects. Responses to a standard Self-Description Questionnaire-1 (SDQ-1) revealed, the item-scale correlations and reliability coefficients obtained were encouraging. Factor analysis generally supported both the specific facets of the SDQ-1 and the existence of an underlying general self-concept factor. These results are then considered in relation to other evidence of the cross-cultural validity of both the SDQ-1 and the Shavelson model of the self. Comparisons of the South African means to those of previously reported Australian, Kenyan, Nigerian, Nepalese and Zimbabwean children of the same age indicated that there was a tendency for the South Africans to have relatively higher opinions of their personal appearance (non-academic self-esteem) than youngsters from other countries. Alternative interpretations appeared to be useful in gaining better understanding of implications of the results for the school counsellor's role in helping students and teachers build self-esteem. The need to belong, or to feel a sense of self-worth, inclusion and significance virtually affect the learning process. The self-descriptions of Black youth provide evidence that young people are important, vital, and active in nation-building. Recognition should be given to culture and racial-specific views people bring to the counselling relationship.

Five groups of college and university students (N= 555) from four countries ranked 32 life events according to the amount of stress each was perceived to cause. The analyses of the rankings revealed substantial agreement on the relative stressfulness of life events among Americans, Germans, Indians, non-White South Africans, and White South Africans. The results suggest that standard measures of life stress can be used cross-culturally with some degree of confidence.

Inter‐rater reliability of the Motivation Assessment Scale (MAS) with an African sample was assessed for independent ratings of 102 low‐functioning children with mental retardation. Correlations of item and subscale scores across raters were high. The internal consistency of subscales and total scores of the MAS was high. Comparisons of the profiles for the South African and British subjects showed essentially similar profile patterns. Indeed, the similarities across both samples were more striking than were the dissimilarities. The results are further discussed in terms of a suggestion for a refinement of MAS which lends itself to more extensive norming and programmatic replication. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

This study examines the social anxieties associated with HIV prevention in adolescents in three African countries (Nigeria, Kenya, and Zimbabwe). The subjects used in this study were black Africans in form 2 or grade 10 in public high schools (Nigeria, n = 387; Kenya, n = 274; Zimbabwe n = 313). Subjects responded to the 33 item AIDS Social Assertiveness Scale (ASAS). Data indicated similar factor structures for each of the three countries and included five factors. The combined sample factor intercorrelations were modestly but significantly correlated. The mean scores for each factor were compared, and ANOVA of the factors by country, by gender, and by interaction between country and gender were performed. The factor structures were very similar between countries, each including five factors that had similar themes: condom interactions, refusal of risk, confiding in significant others, contact with people with HIV/AIDS, and general assertiveness. These factor structures were also very similar to one found in previous studies of Australian adolescents on the ASAS. The Kenyan means for four of the five factors were significantly lower than those for Nigeria, and were also significantly lower than the Zimbabwean means for two of the five factors, suggesting that Kenyan students are less anxious about social situations related to HIV/AIDS than others. Significant variance was found for several factors due to gender, country, and the interaction between gender and country. These results have important implications for designing education programs. The similarities of anxieties regarding HIV/AIDS social situations suggest that these clusters of social barriers to reduction of HIV infection risk might form the basis of educational interventions, and that dimensions of HIV social anxieties are similar across countries.

To understand safe sex behavior in two countries which have been differentially affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the present study compared the AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of 920 heterosexual undergraduate students in Australia and 228 heterosexual undergraduate students in South Africa. South African students were found to have significantly less knowledge about HIV/AIDS, and significantly less favorable attitudes toward safe sex behavior than their Australian counterparts. They were also more likely to report that they have avoided various groups of people for fear of contracting AIDS. Experience from Australia over the period 1986-1995 suggests that significant improvements in the AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of South African undergraduates are achievable.