A Social Psychological Perspective on the Role of Knowledge About AIDS in AIDS Prevention

Widespread ignorance regarding the transmi.ssion of HIV in the mid to late 1980s was, at once, a source of despair and optimism. It was discouraging that people knew so little about HIV preventitm. At the same time, one could hope that an attack on the ignorance might amount to an attack on the virus itself. Today, many health educators still believe that ignorance is at the root of the spread of the disease and continue to focus on knowledge as a centra] causal \'ariable in AIDS prevention. Many AIDS interx'entions are based on the idea that giving people the facts about transmission of HIV will lead to positive attitudes toward preventive behaviors (and ultimately behavior change). In fact, some educational programs measure their success by assessing how much people learn about AIDS rather than by assessing people's changes in attitudes or behavior per se (e.g., Farley, Pomputius, Sabella, Helgerson, & Hadler, 1991; Ganz & Greenberg, 1990).