INFLUENCES ON HEALTH BEHAVIOUR To identify some broad influences on behaviour

PERSONALITY Visit the following website and take the ‘Big five’ personality test. http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/

Studies have shown that some personality traits are associated with health behaviour. Example – association between personality and dietary behaviour, traits such as openness have been associated with healthy eating due to willingness to try new situations such as new food tastes and types.

HEALTH LOCUS OF CONTROL Another commonly investigated aspect of personality is an individual’s locus of control. In general people are considered to have either an internal or external orientation. Internal locus of control – personal responsibility for actions and outcomes External locus of control – responsibility is due to external factors such as ‘luck’

HEALTH LOCUS OF CONTROL Kenneth Wallston – developed a locus of control scale specific to health beliefs. Internal – strong internal beliefs, the individual is the prime determinant of their health, associated with high levels of health protective behaviour and with a concept known as self-efficacy (the belief that one can perform particular behaviour in a given set of circumstances)

HEALTH LOCUS OF CONTROL External – strong beliefs that external forces such as luck or chance determine an individual’s health state rather than the behaviour of the individual. Powerful others – strong beliefs that consider health to be determined by the actions of powerful others such as health and medical professionals. What do you think? Where do your beliefs fit on the scale?

Health Locus of control There are several problems with the concept of a health locus of control: Is health locus of control a fixed trait or a transient state? Is it possible to be both external and internal? Going to the doctor could be seen as external (the doctor is a powerful other) or internal (I am looking after my health).

SOCIAL NORMS, FAMILY AND FRIENDS Our behaviour is a result of many influences: Culture, groups and sub-groups and individuals with whom we interact. Our own personal emotions, values and attitudes. We learn from our own experience but also from observation of other people’s experiences and behaviour. Think about how people make the decision to start smoking cigarettes - how much is this decision affected by peers, family, advertising, perceptions about the health risks, e.g. having apparently healthy friends and family who are smokers, having a positive identification (or not) with the person who first offers you a cigarette.

ATTITUDES Not as simple as we might think – we can hold conflicting attitudes about a particular attitude-object, e.g. enjoying the taste of chocolate, cream cakes, fast food etc. whilst also being worried about the negative health implications of a high fat/salt/calorie intake. These contradictory thoughts are known as dissonance. Many people will try and bring their thoughts into line with one another but some will not, e.g. continuing to smoke, overeat etc. despite holding negative attitudes about the behaviour. This is referred to as ambivalence – an important concept as a person’s motivation to change unhealthy behaviour could be undermined by the ambivalent attitude.

Risk Perceptions and Unrealistic Optimism People may engage in risky behaviour because they do not think themselves to be at risk, or do not accurately think they are at risk, e.g. ‘I don’t smoke as much as her/him so I won’t be at risk of cancer.’ Weinstein (1987) described four cognitive factors that contribute to unrealistic optimism: Lack of personal experience with the behaviour or problem concerned Belief that individual actions can prevent problems Belief that if the problem has not already emerged it is unlikely to do so in the future Belief that the problem is rare