ISSUES, VALUES, AND CRITICAL MOMENTS - DID JOHNSON,MAGIC TRANSFORM PUBLIC-OPINION ON AIDS

By what process do changes occur in the way issues are perceived and e valuated by ordinary citizens? A number of scholarly accounts share th is perspective: intense, value-laden communications, or ''critical mom ents,'' are of key importance in supplying people with symbolic frames for issues and, thus, in defining or redefining the value bases of is sue conflict. Applying this perspective to the case of Earvin (''Magic '') Johnson's announcement that he had contracted the AIDS-causing vir us-a critical moment in AIDS opinions fortuitously captured by interru pted time-series data-this analysis finds that heterosexual moral valu es define a new basis of polarization on AIDS-related policies among p ost-announcement respondents. Furthermore, an analysis of survey data obtained 10 months after ''Magic'' Johnson's disclosure reveals both p ersistence of the new value basis and erosion in the importance of mor al evaluations of homosexuality, the ''old'' or established value that citizens have referenced in forming opinions about AIDS.