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Unit 2 Written Assignment

Department of Health Science, University of the People

PSYC 1111 Introduction of Health Psychology

Corretta Nelson (Instructor)

13.9.2022

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Analyzing how health beliefs are related to behaviors

There are many different kinds of healthy activities, including drinking alcohol,

dieting, exercising, and smoking. These actions can indicate potential health problems and

sickness. All of the acts are a result of beliefs that are exhibited through each person's

sentiments and ideas. There are some notions we do hold true for health-related actions

(smoking can make us relax, etc.). These are fundamental ideas that are difficult for people to

change. Core beliefs are challenging to change, especially if we have held them since

infancy. We won't be able to advance until we can identify the appropriate conditions,

appropriate motives, and the new perspective of our acceptance of the fundamental beliefs.

Positive beliefs, however, pose no risks because they can improve our lives, but negative

beliefs could be detrimental to our health.

Numerous health-related behaviors have been predicted using the Health Belief

Model (Ogden, 2019). There are seven facts in the Health Belief Model (HBM), according to

the HBM. These include susceptibility to illness, the severity of the illness, the benefits and

costs of engaging in an activity, internal or external cues to action, a sense of control over

one's own health, and health motivation. (Ogden, 2019). They are all connected to healthy

practices and each one represents a core value. For instance, if a person thinks that smoking

would make him sick and lead to lung cancer, he will try to quit, but only if this is a

fundamental belief.

Therefore, his behavior would be to try to stop smoking and replace it with something

healthier. Health behavior studies frequently employ the HBM. According to the HBM, a

patient or individual is more likely to heed a clinician's preventive or therapeutic advice if

they have the following feelings: I am prone to this disease; I think the disease is severe; I

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have faith in my ability to administer the therapy. These kinds of behaviors are thus

connected to health attitudes.

According to the protection motivation theory (PMT), people are driven to take

preventative measures when they sense a health concern. It also resembles the HBM in

certain ways. There are five facts in the PMT. These are susceptibility, response potency,

self-efficacy, and dread (Ogden, 2019). These variables indicate behavioral intentions

(Ogden, 2019). When a man decides to stop smoking, PMT will make him anxious and

convince him that his danger of having lung cancer is quite great. As a result, he would

probably start to adopt healthy ideas and actions.

Analyzing the psychosocial influences on health-related behavior

Each of us has researched the links between ideas and actions. Financial, social, and

emotional factors, as well as psychosocial ones, have an effect on health-related behaviors.

When we are upset, it is challenging to concentrate on our health, which makes it difficult to

remember to eat regularly. It not only has an impact on our health, but also has the potential

to ruin our social lives. It's possible that we're not in the mood to talk to others. The money

aspect is equally important to that state and has the power to affect our conduct. People often

worry when they don't have enough money, which can lead to depression. People exhibit bad

behavior when they get upset or depressed. However, if someone has more money than they

need, they can do whatever they want, including drinking all the booze they desire. We must

therefore determine how these psychosocial (emotional, social, and economic) and various

models of behavior work.

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Reference

The Psychology of Health and Illness [PDF] by Ogden, 2019

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