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Cognitive Determinants of Health Behavior

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Handbook of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

This chapter summarizes work on the cognitive determinants of health behavior. The cognitive determinants most strongly and consistently associated with behavior are intentions, self-efficacy, and outcome expectancies. A number of models integrating various cognitive determinants of health behavior have been developed and applied in this area. These importantly include the Health Belief Model, Protection Motivation Theory, Theory of Reasoned Action/Theory of Planned Behavior, Social Cognitive Theory, and the Transtheoretical Model of Change (TTM). These models are overviewed and work with them briefly reviewed. The overlap between the models is noted along with one prominent attempt to produce an integrated model. Recent developments in this area are reviewed in relation to intention stability as an important mediator of cognitive effects, affective expectancies as a highly predictive yet insufficiently considered variable, and implementation intentions as an important volitional technique to promote action.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Psychological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, Leeds, UK

    Mark Conner (Professor of Applied Social Psychology)

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  1. Mark Conner
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Correspondence to Mark Conner .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. St Georges Hospital Medical School, Dept. Psychology, University of London, Cranmer Terrace, London, SW17 0RE, United Kingdom

    A. Steptoe

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Conner, M. (2010). Cognitive Determinants of Health Behavior. In: Steptoe, A. (eds) Handbook of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-09488-5_2

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