If individuals are asked to rate the effectiveness of condoms in preventing the transmission of HIV (the virus that causes AIDS), they would be most likely to rate a condom as effective if they were told:
A) that the condom has a 95 percent success rate in protecting against the HIV.
B) that only 5 condom users out of every 100 are not protected against the HIV.
C) that the condom has a 5 percent failure rate in protecting against the HIV.
D) It does not matter, because all of the other options describe the same statistical effectiveness.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

People are more likely to perceive effectiveness in positive terms rather than negative terms. In this case, stating a 95% success rate is more likely to be perceived as effective than stating a 5% failure rate.

If Individuals Are Asked to Rate the Effectiveness of Condoms