Privacy, HIV Testing, and AIDS: College Students' Versus Parents' Perspectives

This study examines privacy, HIV testing, and AIDS from the perspective of social judgment theory to provide insights to AIDS campaign planners. Participants (N = 367) were surveyed concerning (a) perceptions that release of information about HIV testing violates privacy, (b) contact with persons who have tested HIV positive or have died from AIDS, (c) attitude toward homosexuality, (d) religious intensity and ideology, and (e) sex-role instrumentality and expressiveness. Results indicate that individuals' perceptions of privacy predict willingness to disclose results of HIV tests and specific knowledge of who has been tested. These findings may be especially important to policymakers and campaign planners as issues surrounding HIV testing become more prevalent.