S4: Health behaviour Flashcards
What are health-related behaviours?
Anything that may promote good health or lead to illness
Name some theories that help understand people’s health-related behaviours?
Learning theories
Social cognition models - theory pf planned behaviour and health belief model
Integrative model - COM-B
List some learning theories? (3)
Classical conditioning theory
Operant conditioning theory
Social learning theory
How does classical conditioning link to changing behaviour?
Avoid cues/ change association to cues, because behaviour is linked to environmental cues
What is operant conditioning theory?
People act on the environment and behaviour is shaped by the consequences (reward to punishment)
Behaviour reinforced (increases) if it id rewarded or punishment is removed
Behaviour decreases if it is punished or the reward is taken away.
How does operant conditioning link to health-related behaviour?
Unhealthy behaviour is immediately rewarding (drug-taking, alcohol, smoking, chocolate, unsafe sex).
What are the limitations of conditioning theories?
Classical and operant on based conditioning based on simple stimulus-response associations
No account of cognitive processes, knowledge, beliefs, memory, attitudes, expectations
No account of social context
What is social learning theory?
Behaviour is goal-directed
People are motivated to perform values that are valued, that they believe they can enact (self-efficacy)
We learn what behaviours are rewarded and how likely it is we can perform the behaviour, from observing others
Give some examples of social cognition models
Cognitive dissonance theory
Health belief model
Theory of planned behaviour
What is cognitive dissonance theory?
DIscomfort, when you hold inconsistent beliefs or actions/events, don’t match held beliefs
Reduce discomfort by changing beliefs or behaviour
How does cognitive dissonance link to health promotion?
Proving health information, (usually uncomfortable) creates mental discomfort and can prompt a change in behaviour
What is the health belief model?
Your cues to action are linked to:
Your beliefs about health threat so perceived susceptibility and severity
AND your beliefs about health-related behaviour so perceived barriers and benefits
What is the theory of planned behaviour?
Your behaviour is determined by your intentions which are in turn determined by your attitude, subjective norm and perceived control.
What is the TBP intention/behaviour gap?
TPB - a good predictor of intentions but a poor predictor of behaviour
Problem is translating intentions into behaviour
Why don’t people always behave in ways that promote health?
Lack of CAPABILITY = inadequate knowledge and or skills
Insufficient OPPORTUNITY
MOTIVATION - desire at key moments to engage in health behaviour is lacking - healthy behaviours are usually difficult or unpleasant
