CU8 – JOHNSON, ROY, NEUMAN DATE: 11/08/2021

behavioral
system model
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY
August 21, 1919 – February 1999
Dorothy E. Johnson was one of the greatest nursing theorists who
developed the “Behavioral System Model.”
Her theory of nursing defines nursing as “an external regulatory force
which acts to preserve the organization and integration of the patients’
behaviors at an optimum level under those conditions in which the
behavior constitutes a threat to the physical or social health, or in which
illness is found.”
Her model was greatly influenced by Florence Nightingale’s book, Notes
on Nursing.

BEHAVIORAL SYSTEM MODEL

It advocates fostering efficient and effective
behavioral functioning in the patient to
prevent illness and stresses the importance of
research-based knowledge about the effect of
nursing care on patients.
The patient is identified as a behavioral system
composed of seven behavioral subsystems:
affiliative, dependency, ingestive,
eliminative, sexual, aggressive, and
achievement.
An imbalance in any of the behavioral
subsystems results in disequilibrium. It is
nursing’s role to assist the client in returning to
a state of equilibrium.
GOALS OF NURSING

1 To assist the patient whose behavior is

proportional to social demands.

2 To assist the patient who can modify

his behavior in ways that supports
biological imperatives.

3 To assist the patient who can benefit to

the fullest extent during illness from
the physician’s knowledge and skill.

4 To assist the patient whose behavior

does not give evidence of unnecessary
trauma as a consequence of illness.

ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT SYSTEM

1 There is “organization, interaction, interdependency and integration of the parts and elements
of behaviors that go to make up the system.”

2 A system “tends to achieve a balance among the various forces operating within and upon it,
and that man strives continually to maintain a behavioral system balance and steady-state by
more or less automatic adjustments and adaptations to the natural forces occurring on him.”
3 A behavioral system, which requires and results in regularity and constancy in behavior, is
essential to man. It is functionally significant because it serves a useful purpose in social life
and the individual.

4 “System balance reflects adjustments and adaptations that are successful in some way and to
some degree.”

ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS

1 “From the form the behavior takes and

the consequences it achieves can be
inferred what ‘drive’ has been
stimulated or what ‘goal’ is being
sought.”
3 Each subsystem has a repertoire of
choices called a “scope of action.”
4 The individual patient’s behavior
produces an outcome that can be
observed.

2 Each person has a “predisposition to

act concerning the goal, in certain
ways rather than the other ways.” This
predisposition is called a “set.”

FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR THE SUBSYSTEMS

1 The system must be protected from

toxic influences with which the system 3 The system must be stimulated for use
to enhance growth and prevent
cannot cope. stagnation.

2 Each system has to be nurtured

through the input of appropriate
supplies from the environment.

NURSING METAPARADIGM
P person is a behavioral system that strives to make continual adjustments to achieve,
maintain, or regain balance to the steady-state adaptation.
BIOLOGICAL SYSTEM on which the role of BEHAVIORAL SYSTEM on which nursing
medicine focuses on focuses on

E ENVIRONMENT is not directly defined, but it is implied to include all elements of the human
system’s surroundings and includes interior stressors.

H health is seen as the opposite of illness, and Johnson defines it as “some degree of regularity
and constancy in behavior.
BEHAVIORAL SYSTEM reflects adjustments and adaptations that are successful somehow, and to some
degree… adaptation is functionally efficient and effective.”

N nursing is seen as “an external regulatory force that acts to preserve the organization and
integrate the patient’s behavior at an optimal level under those conditions in which the
behavior constitutes a threat to physical or social health or in which illness is found.”

MODEL CONCEPTS
man is a system that indicates the state of the system through behaviors.
system is that which functions as a whole under organized independent interaction of its
subsystem
parts. is a mini system is maintained concerning the entire system when it or the
environment is not disturbed.

SUBCONCEPTS
STRUCTURE is the parts of the system that make up the whole
variablEs are the factors outside the system influence the system’s behavior, but the system lacks
the power to change.
boundaries are the point that differentiates the interior of the system from the exterior.
homeostasis is the process of maintaining stability.
stability is the balance or steady-state in maintaining a balance of behavior within an acceptable
range.
stressor is a stimulus from the internal or external world that results in stress or instability.
tension is the system’s adjustment to demands, change or growth, or to actual disruptions.
instability is the state in which the system output of energy depletes the energy needed to maintain
stability.
set is the predisposition to act. It implies that despite having only a few alternatives to select a
behavioral response, the individual will rank those options and choose the option considered most
desirable.
function is the consequences or purposes of action.

SUBSYSTEMS OF THE BEHAVIORAL SYSTEM

1 Attachment or affiliative
attachment of a strong social bond.”
is the “social inclusion intimacy and the formation and

It is probably the most critical because it forms the basis for all social organizations. It provides
survival and security.
Its consequences are social inclusion, intimacy, and the formation and maintenance of a
strong social bond.

2 dependency is the “approval, attention or recognition and physical assistance.” It promotes

helping behavior that calls for a nurturing response.
Its consequences are approval, attention or recognition, and physical assistance.
Developmentally, dependency behavior evolves from almost total dependence on others to a
greater degree of dependence on self. A certain amount of interdependence is essential for the
survival of social groups.

3 INgestive is the “emphasis on the meaning and structures of the social events surrounding
the occasion when the food is eaten.”
It “has to do with when, how, what, how much, and under what conditions we eat.”

4 eliminative states that “human cultures have defined different socially acceptable
behaviors for excretion of waste, but the existence of such a pattern remains different from
culture to culture.
It addresses “when, how, and under what conditions we eliminate.”

5 sexual is both a biological and social factor that affects behavior that has the dual functions
of procreation and gratification
Including, but not limited to, courting and mating, this response system begins with the
development of gender role identity and includes a broad range of sex-role behaviors.

6 aggressive relates to protection and self-preservation, generating a defense response when

there is a threat to life or territory.

7 achievement provokes behavior that tries to control the environment which attempts to
manipulate or mastery an aspect of self or environment to some standard of excellence.
Areas of achievement behavior include intellectual, physical, creative, mechanical, and social
skills.