T he weight of evidence clearly suggests that, based on what economics students say and how they play games, those who study economics appear to be less cooperative than those who do not. In a recent issue of this journal, Frank, Gilovich and Regan (1993) compile the evidence for this view. Using the results of others and new studies of their own, they show that economics students are more likely to free ride or defect from coalitions. In addition, they present survey results that indicate lowered cooperation by students after exposure to the principles of economics course and other surveys that find that professional economists report less charitable giving.This evidence is consistent with the proposition that studying economics alters how students play structured games and answer surveys about cooperativeness. However, we disagree with the additional conclusion that, as Frank, Gilovich and Regan (1993, p. 159) put it in their article, "exposure to the self-interest model commonly used in economics alters the extent to which people behave in self-interested ways." In fact, the evidence in this paper implies that even if undergraduate students of economics display uncooperative behavior in specialized games or surveys, their "real-world" behavior is actually substantially more cooperative than that of their counterparts studying other subjects. Analytical IssuesDrawing a connection between the study of economics and changes in cooperative behavior isn't easy. Here, we raise four difficulties in any such analysis.

Theories of social integration and stress process posit that community involvement may buffer or may compensate the adverse effects of stigma on psychological well-being. In this article, the authors explore this thesis in a stigmatized and seldom studied group of HIV-positive Latino gay men. Specifically, they examine the effects of community involvement in AIDS and gay-related organizations (e.g., volunteerism and activism) and experienced homosexual stigma on three psychological well-being indicators (i.e., self-esteem, depression, and loneliness). The cross-sectional sample includes 155 HIV-positive men living in New York City and Washington, DC. Results suggest that experienced stigma attributed to homosexuality is associated with psychological well-being. Community involvement, however, seems to compensate the association between stigma and depression and loneliness, while buffering the association with self-esteem. Furthermore, community involvement appears to also heighten the perception of stigma.

This study examined disclosure of HIV-positive serostatus by 301 Latino gay and bisexual men to members of their social networks and the mental health consequences of such disclosure. The sample was recruited from clinics, hospitals, and community agencies in New York City, Washington, DC, and Boston. Proportions disclosing differed depending on the target, with 85% having disclosed to closest friend, 78% to male main partner, 37% to mother, and 23% to father. Although there were differences depending on the target, disclosure was related to greater quality of social support, greater self-esteem, and lower levels of depression. Moreover, findings indicated that social support mediated the relationship between disclosure of serostatus and both self-esteem and depression. Thus, disclosure resulted in greater social support, which in turn had positive effects on psychological well-being. Findings demonstrate that generally Latino gay men are selective in choosing people to whom they disclose their serostatus and that disclosure tends to be associated with positive outcomes.

Psychological well-being among Latino gay men and lesbians was investigated. This study hypothesized that active coping and social support and identification with the Latino gay and lesbian community (collective self-esteem) are associated with positive mental health status, specifically lower levels of depression and higher levels of personal self-esteem. Surveys were administered to 106 participants. About one sixth of the sample was moderately depressed, and only 1 participant was severely depressed. High levels of active coping and social support were significantly related to lower levels of depression and higher levels of self-esteem when controlling for gender and whether the participants were bom in the United States. Two aspects of collective self-esteem, private and membership collective self-esteem, were associated with positive mental health status; unexpectedly, importance to identity was related to higher levels of depression. * Latino gay men and lesbians • depression • self-esteem ' active coping • social support • collective self-esteemLatino gay men and lesbians are a population at increased risk of poor mental health outcomes, such as depression, because of a combination of factors. Ethnic minority status can be associated with additional stress, as can the process of immigration for those Latinos not born in the United States. In addition, gay men and lesbians are exposed to discrimination, social exclusion, and, on occasion, even violence because of their sexual orientation. However, these individuals often show resilience and possess both a

This study explored disclosure of serostatus in a sample of 155 HIV-positive Latino gay men from New York City and Washington, DC. We examined rates of disclosure to different members of the social network: mothers, fathers, close friends, and primary sexual partners. There were high rates of disclosure of HIV-positive serostatus to main partners and closest friends and lower rates to fathers and mothers. We examined the role of 3 contextual target-dependent factors (emotional closeness to target, anticipated reactions from target, and target's knowledge of sexual orientation), as well as acculturation and time since diagnosis. Three separate logistic regression models were performed to predict disclosure of HIV-positive status to 3 targets: mothers, fathers, and closest friends. We found that disclosure was not a generalized tendency, but rather different factors were influential depending on the target. Whether the target was aware of participant's sexual orientation was associated with disclosure in all 3 models. Greater emotional closeness also predicted disclosure to mother and father; greater U.S. acculturation was associated with disclosure to father and marginally to mother. A longer time since diagnosis was associated with disclosure to the closest friend. These findings highlight the importance of taking into account roles and relationships, and their effect on disclosure.