Conspiracies, contagion, and compassion: trust and public reactions to AIDS

AIDS educational programs can be effective only to the extent that they are perceived as credible by their target audiences. In this study, public trust associated with AIDS was assessed in a national telephone survey. African-Americans were more likely than whites to express distrust of doctors and scientists concerning HIV transmission through casual contact, to believe that AIDS is being used as a form of genocide against minority groups, and to believe that information about AIDS is being withheld from the public. Individuals high in distrust did not differ from those low in distrust in their exposure to AIDS information. Higher levels of AIDS-related distrust were not related to self-reported personal risk reduction, but were related to inaccurate beliefs about HIV transmission through casual contact and greater willingness to avoid and stigmatize people with AIDS. The importance of overcoming distrust in AIDS education programs is discussed.