Télécharger la revue en format "pdf". - UQAM

46 Revue sexologique / Sexological Review
confusion. When the source of confusion was explored, both media
reports and educational campaigns were cited. For example,
interviewees recaIled that early campaigns implicated saliva as a
possible mode of transmission of HIV, with wet kissing a risky
activity. Later campaigns portrayed a lower level of risk for kissing
once the role of saliva in transmission had been clarified. This
"clarification" produced confusion and uncertainty among young
adults. For them, the change in reported risk of kissing gave ample
reason to question aIl media or educational reports, as illustrated by
the foIlowing quotation:
You know, 1 don't think they reaUy know aU the ways [HIV might be
transmitted]. They keep changing their minds. 50 you can't reaUy trust
what they say, can you?
Thus, the first hypothesis obtained additional support in interviews.
Judgmental Heuristics
The operation of the three judgmental heuristics as mechanisms for
interpreting knowledge and information was evident in how
knowledge was translated into personal perceptions.
Representtiveness Heurstc
The representativeness heu ris tic was displayed in several
comparisons which young adults made. First, their city was compared
to others where risk was perccived to be greater:
Montreal right now isn't very infected, but a bigger city like Ta [Toronto]
or New York, you'd have to worry ...
Second, much as in the association between AIDS and
"undesirables" discussed by Weston and Jeffrey (1988) and Patton
(1986), partners were compared to the "type of person" who was
believed to be infected, or to sources which were likely to produce
infected partners:
Ya, we aU have to worry, but since l'm not gay 1 guess 1 don't have to
worry as much ...
1 can tell when 1 look at them ...
1 just pick them up ... but none of these places are sleazy - not the kind
where you find bikers and stuff, ...
... you know if you meet someone through friends, you know they're OK.