Beliefs About Testing for the Prevention of the Spread of AIDS: Self-Monitoring and Identifiability in Response to Televised Information

An experiment is reported where subjects varying in scores on the Snyder (1974) Self-Monitoring Scale were exposed to a documentary message that dealt with the threat of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and targeted young people. After seeing the film, subjects expected to present their opinion on the need for compulsory blood testing to a group of others, either anonymously or as identifiable. Results showed that high self-monitors were more responsive to the identifiability variable, being less moderate in opinion in the anonymous condition. Low self-monitors expressed the same opinion regardless of identifiability, and were more responsive to the film, becoming more in favor of compulsory testing as a result of exposure. Implications of this experiment are drawn for the estimation within the community of the distribution of concern, and about the possible impact of documentary-type material on beliefs with civil libertarian relevance.