Health Psychology Chapter 4 Motivational/Continuum Models

Component of Intention: Attitudes

positive or negative feelings about engaging in a particular behavior E.g., "Exercising once a day would be..." Bad (1) - Good (7) Pleasant (1) - Unpleasant (7)

Self Efficacy Theory/Social Cognitive Theory

proposes that people's beliefs about a) their ability to perform a behavior and b) the anticipated outcome of the behavior are key determinants of behavior.

What's the intention-behavior gap?

People don't always do what they intend to do

Critique of Motivational Models

1.Better at predicting intentions than actual behavior 2. Portray behavior change as an event rather than a process Particularly problematic with lifestyle behaviors in which maintenance over time is required 3.Don't address the role of past behavior

Two main components of TPB

1.Intention- to act or not to act Attitudes- towards the behavior. arise from beliefs that the behavior will lead to positive or negative outcomes Subjective Norms- shaped by the both one's belief that others encourage the behavior and one's motivation to adhere to the wishes of the others Perceived Behavioral Control- ease or difficulty one has in achieving desired behavioral outcomes, reflects both past behaviors and perceived ability to overcome obstacles 2.Behavior Intentions-to act or not to act Perceived Behavioral Control- ease or difficulty one has in achieving desired behavioral outcomes, reflects both past behaviors and perceived ability to overcome obstacles

Theory of Planned Behavior Disadvantages

1.Intention—behavior gap: People don't always do what they intend to do! Med-large increases in intentions lead to only small-med changes in behavior 2. relationship between intention and behavior is not as straight forward as the the theory of planned behavior can substantially improve the model's predictive ability.

Self-efficacy/ Social Cognitive Behavior Model Disadvantages

Other models (e.g., TPB) are better at predicting behavior than SCT Omits other motivational factors (e.g., social pressures) because it focuses chiefly on self-efficacy.

Advantages of Motivational Models

1.Suggest a one-size-fits-all approach to changing behavior Improving these factors should theoretically increase anyone's levels of intention Easy to implement across large number of people 2. Good at predicting intentions to change behavior

Self-Efficacy Theory

AKA Social Cognitive Theory Albert Bandura - proposed that humans have some capacity to exercise limited control over their lives. reciprocal determinism-Bandura suggests that human action results from an interaction of behavior, environment, and person factors. Three components are Person, environment and behavior

What components predict intention?

Attitudes Subjective Norms Perceived Behavioral control

Health Behavior Model Disadvantages

Bad at predicting lifestyle behaviors like physical activity and diet Bad at predicting behaviors that require ability/skill

Health Behavior Model Advantages

Good at predicting behaviors directly related to specific illness, like screening (e.g., mammography, HIV testing)

What components predict behavior?

Intention Perceived Behavioral control

Self-efficacy/ Social Cognitive Behavior Model Advantages

Led to the incorporation of self-efficacy into nearly every model of health behavior In general, good at predicting a variety of behaviors

Limitation to Health Belief Model

Not effective to lifestyle changes or behaviors that require skill/ability Does not consider person's belief about control or ability over a health behavior

Health Belief Model Components

Perceived susceptibility: beliefs about one's own risk of contracting a health condition E.g. "How likely do you think it is that you will be diagnosed with skin cancer in your lifetime?" Extremely unlikely (1) - extremely likely (7) Perceived severity: beliefs about the seriousness of contracting an illness (medically/clinically and psychologically/socially) E.g., "Getting diagnosed with skin cancer would be..." Not at al serious (1) - extremely serious (7) Perceived benefits: beliefs about whether a course of action will lead to reduced personal susceptibility or severity E.g., "Wearing sunscreen of SPF 15 or higher every day will reduce my risk of getting skin cancer" Strongly disagree (1) - strongly agree (7) Perceived barriers: beliefs about the negative aspects of a particular course of action E.g., "How often does wanting to look tanned prevent you from wearing sunscreen?" Never (1) - always (7)

Theory of Planned Behavior Advantages

Pretty good at predicting a variety of behaviors, especially when "past behavior" is added to the model

What are the two main components of self-efficacy theory?

Self-efficacy-people who think they can do something will persist to accomplish it, the best predictor of completing versuses dropping out Outcome behaviors

Health Belief Model

This model came from the situation in the 1950's where they tried to get people screened for tuberculosis. Geoffrey Hochbaum started to examine why people weren't getting screened. Proposes that people will take action to prevent/screen for/control ill-health conditions if they... perceive themselves as susceptible to the condition perceive the condition and its consequences are severe believe that the benefits of taking action outweigh the barriers

Continuum theories

Way to explain adherence with a single set of factors that should apply equally to all people. AKA a "one size fits all approach"

Intention

a determination to act in a certain way Predictor of behavior Set of components predicts intention E.g., "I intend to exercise at least 4 times a week" Very unlikely (1) - very likely (7)

Theory of Planned Behavior

assumes that people act in ways that help them achieve important goals and assumes that people are generally reasonable and make systematic use of information when deciding how to behave. They think about the outcome of their actions before making making a decision to engage. proposes that intention to perform a behavior and perceived behavioral control are the key determinants of behavior. Intentions, in turn, are determined by attitudes and social norms and perceived behavioral control

Component of intention + behavior: Perceived behavioral control

belief about the extent to which a behavior can be controlled Basically, = self-efficacy E.g., "Exercising at least 4 times a week is something that I can do" Strongly disagree (1) - strongly agree (7)

Component of Intention: Subjective norms

beliefs about whether important others a) engage in the behavior themselves, and/or b) want them to/think they should engage in the behavior E.g., "People important to me exercise" Not at all true (1) - very true (7) E.g., "People important to me want me to exercise" Not at all true (1) - very true (7)

Motivational models

focus on understanding the factors that lead people to intend (or decide) to perform a behavior

Outcome expectancies:

the belief that carrying out a specific behavior/set of behaviors will lead to valued outcomes

Self-efficacy

the belief that one is capable of performing a particular behavior or set of behaviors Different than general confidence—self-efficacy is situation-specific