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Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine pp 1–9Cite as

Common-Sense Model of Self-Regulation

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Synonyms

Illness representation model; Mental models of illness; Mental representations of illness

Definition

The common-sense model of self-regulation (CSM) explains how individuals respond to and manage health threats. It proposes that people actively engage in problem-solving by developing mental models of health threats, subjective and objective treatment goals, and practices and procedures most likely to achieve those goals.

Description

Background

The origins of the common-sense model of self-regulation (CSM) can be traced to the parallel model proposed by Leventhal in the early 1970s to understand how individuals respond to fear-arousing communications (Leventhal 1970). Similar to the parallel model, the CSM posits that when a threat is perceived (e.g., physical symptoms or changes in function), individuals develop two parallel, yet interrelated, representations of the stimulus: cognitive and emotional (Leventhal et al. 1997). These representations and their content specify the...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA

    Pablo A. Mora

  2. War Related Illness and Injury Study Center, Veterans Affairs NJ Health Care System, East Orange, NJ, USA

    Lisa M. McAndrew

  3. Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, University at Albany, Albany, NY, USA

    Lisa M. McAndrew

  4. Department of Psychology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA

    L. Alison Phillips

Authors
  1. Pablo A. Mora
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  2. Lisa M. McAndrew
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  3. L. Alison Phillips
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lisa M. McAndrew .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA

    Marc Gellman

Section Editor information

  1. Laboratories of Psychology, Department of Psychology, The University of Iowa Spence, Iowa City, Iowa, USA

    Alan J. Christensen

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© 2020 This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the U.S.; foreign copyright protection may apply

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Mora, P.A., McAndrew, L.M., Phillips, L.A. (2020). Common-Sense Model of Self-Regulation. In: Gellman, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_1220-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_1220-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-6439-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6439-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference MedicineReference Module Medicine

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