Healthy Living - Theories of Health Belief - Evaluation (2)

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  • Created by: Majid
  • Created on: 31-12-12 14:32

Theories of Health Belief - Evaluation (2)

Debates:

Reductionism

All theories adopt a cognitive approach, stating that individual’s make a rational choice about whether to adopt healthy behaviour.

However, perhaps other approaches are equally relevant - such as the influence of others (social approach), e.g. peer pressure and smoking, or the physiological approach, e.g. addiction.

The HBM is the most holistic of the theories of health belief, as it looks at how different factors interact (e.g. perceived threat  and demographic variables) to explain healthy behaviours.

Dispositional vs. Situational Explanations

If the adoption of healthy behaviours is due to a cognitive choice (i.e. freewill), then this explains healthy behaviour as being a dispositional behaviour.

However, some elements of the HBM examine situational elements, e.g. demographic variables, as contributing to whether a person adopts a healthy behaviour.

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