Making Decisions About AIDS (From Primary Prevention of AIDS: Psychological Approaches, P 168-205, 1989, Vickie M Mays, et al, eds. -- See NCJ-123561)

• NCJ Number: 123567
• Author(s): B Fischhoff
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 38 pages
• Grant Number(s): SES-8715564
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Publication Type: Research (Theoretical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Behavioral decision theory is discussed in terms of its relevance to AIDS-related decisions such as whether to be tested for antibodies and whether to ask a sexual partner to use condoms.

Abstract

This theory can be expressed either qualitatively or quantitatively, with quantitative approaches focusing on the tradeoffs among the consequences of a decision and the probabilities of these consequences. This approach does not claim that people intuitively make optimal decisions, however. Nevertheless, it shows some ability to predict people's behavior. Efforts to understand, predict, and assist people's decisions should rest on an accurate description of people's current perceptions. These efforts should also rest on awareness that decisionmaking is seldom perfect, but appropriate strategies can help people consider decisions more thoroughly than they otherwise might and encourage them to go beyond their intuition. Notes and 89 references.