Transcript Psychology 415: Social Basis of Health Behavior

Opening
Psychology 415; Social Basis of Health Behavior
 Issue: if health behavior is related to some stable
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attribute of the person, what is that? How is it
changed?
 “Personality”: stable (unlearned?) trait
 “Attitude”: Learned evaluative response
Attitudes:
 Core evaluation of an object
 [Context dependent] Behavioral disposition
Attitude theory core issue:
 Attitude  behavior consistency
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Beliefs v. affect?
Conflicting beliefs?
Habit?
Self-efficacy?
Attitudes & self-regulation
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Core constituents: Attitude Models
 Knowledge
Psychology 415; Social Basis of Health Behavior
 Information re: health practices
 Awareness of health related stimuli ► “Cues to action”
 Attitudes and Beliefs
 Preferences or evaluations: e.g., consumer preferences.
 Beliefs, ► Perceived vulnerability, ► Outcome expectancies
 Affect , e.g., depression / anxiety & information seeking
► “Affect as information” models
 Behavior
 Behavioral history; ► habit formation
 Behavioral intentions; context & behavior -specific cognitive
“set”
Attitudes & self-regulation
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Some basic attitude elements
Psychology 415; Social Basis of Health Behavior
 Context dependence
 Potentially multiple attitudes
 Context dependency  attitude – behavior inconsistency
 Accessibility & strength
 priming effects
 speed of recall
 Ambivalence
 cognition v. affect
 Approach  avoidance
 Anchoring effects
 Value congruence
 “Instrumental” attitudes; functional in predicting outcomes of
behavior, modifiable via information or direct experience...
 “Value expressive”; expression of basic ideology or principles...less
responsive to experience or information.
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Basic attitude elements, 2
Psychology 415; Social Basis of Health Behavior
 Primacy of affect & evaluation
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Affect >> cognition when they are in conflict
Congruent affect & cognition  strong / change resistant attitude
Affective / evaluative Rx precedes cognitive processing
Affective priming independent of cognitive processes
 sleeper effect?
 Expectancy x value: core underpinning of attitude
models
 Attitude = [belief1 x value1] + [belief2 x value2] + …
 Key variables:
 # & nature of key beliefs,
 direction & strength of valuation (affective response).
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Basic attitude elements, 3
Psychology 415; Social Basis of Health Behavior
 Cognitive accessibility of beliefs
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Cs goals and motivations  accessibility
Arousal & accessibility (Oxytocin & sexual stimuli)
Positive goal features  accessible for long-term decisions
Negative goal features  accessible for short term decisions
Key approach  avoidance conflict:
 Long-term self-regulation (approach health
goal) more effortful & cognitive demanding
 Short-term affective coping (avoidance) less
effortful.
 Attentional “narrowing” and lessening accessibility
 Alcohol / drug effects
 Cognitive avoidance
Attitudes & self-regulation
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Attitude change/formation/Persuasion
Psychology 415; Social Basis of Health Behavior
 Consistency theories
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 dissonance theory
 value -- attitude congruence
 consistency & attraction
 averaging models (v. “tipping point” perspective)
Exposure / conditioning
 Simple repetition, pairing of attitude with existing positive response.
Heritability
 Happiness set point?
 Affectivity?
 Other set points; substance use, temperament, food.
 Tolerance for ambiguity?
Heuristic - systematic models of persuasion
 Motivated; argument strength predicts (strong & enduring) attitude
change
 Non-motivated: peripheral / heuristic elements predict less strong /
enduring change
Attitudes & self-regulation
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Attitude change
Psychology 415; Social Basis of Health Behavior
 Receiver characteristics
 “Involvement” --> greater motivation...
 Personal relevance
 Defending pre-existing attitude
 Express values
 Intermediate levels of self-esteem --> change
 Mood
 Source characteristics
 Message clarity x source credibility (interaction with
‘motivation’)
 In group v. out group
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Attitude change, 2
Psychology 415; Social Basis of Health Behavior
 Message characteristics
 Fear arousal: Rogers’ protection motivation theory
 Basic message x receiver effects:
 Seriousness of message;
 personal susceptibility;
 outcome expectancies;
 efficacy expectancies
 Framing;
 Context effects
 Gain v. loss & reflection effect
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Basic models
 Triandis
Psychology 415; Social Basis of Health Behavior
[belief x affect] + belief 2 x affect 2].... = behavioral disposition
 Fishbein
Self efficacy
[belief x value] + [belief2 x value2]....
[norm x value] + [norm2 x value2]....
Behavioral
intention
Habit
 Ajzen; theory of Planned Behavior
Attitudes & self-regulation
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Behavioral
disposition
Psychosocial challenges for health behavior:
Informational / Cognitive
Psychology 415; Social Basis of Health Behavior
 Complexity and non-stability of health related information
 “Press conference” science
 Food industry influence on HHS information
 “Food pyramid” complexity
 Credibility of multiple information sources
 The WEB and informational tunneling
 Powerful cognitive message effects
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Framing: (in)congruence with approach / avoidant attitudes
Gain / loss: gain framing >> loss framing.
Cognitive salience of competing messages
Powerful anchoring effects of even trivial information
 Social norms
 “Fat” norms
 Culturally – specific norms; e.g., Gay community & drug use.
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Psychosocial challenges for health behavior:
Affective
Psychology 415; Social Basis of Health Behavior
 “Hot” information and cognitive or behavioral avoidance
 Cf: Miller C-SHIP model
 HIV testing data, cancer screening, etc.
 Cognitive avoidance in chronic disease
 Self-efficacy: Fear of difficulty of behavioral change
 “Demotivating” effects of negative mood
 “Strategic” use of negative health behavior to enhance mood
enhancing
 “Denial” of health threat via group membership
 Outgroup stereotypes and perceived non-vulnerability
 Peer & cultural conformity pressure toward (or ‘not
against’) health threats
Attitudes & self-regulation
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Psychosocial challenges for health behavior:
Behavioral
 Difficulty of delaying gratification, decreasing “stimulus
Psychology 415; Social Basis of Health Behavior
boundedness”
 “Automaticity”, cognitive capacity, and real limitations on
cognitive control over behavior
 Self-monitoring and self-regulation needed to process and follow
health information
 “Self-regulation capacity” models
 7 +2 informational capacity
 Real difficulty of health alternatives
 “Food deserts”
 Violent neighborhoods / build environment & exercise availability
 American industrial food system
 Outcome & efficacy expectancies
Attitudes & self-regulation
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Psychology 415; Social Basis of Health Behavior
Self-Regulation
 Core elements:
1. Goal setting
2. Self-evaluative reactions
3. Self-efficacy for goal-related behavioral
performance
Attitudes & self-regulation
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Self-regulation elements: 1. Goal setting
Psychology 415; Social Basis of Health Behavior
 Stable “action schema” or “script”
 Abelson: “automatic” behavioral scripts
 Higgins: discrepancies between “actual”, “ideal” &
“ought” selves
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Modest ideal  actual: intrinsic motivation for goals
Modest ought actual: extrinsic motivation for goals
Strong ideal  actual: guilt, anxiety
Strong ought actual: depression, helplessness
 Goals as preferences: Ajzen attitude models
 Goals and Action Identification
 Higher-order identification: generalized values
 Lower-order ID: concrete behaviors
 Houston: shifts in ID to serve self-regulation
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Goals, 2: Action Identifications
Psychology 415; Social Basis of Health Behavior
High
Lose weight
& look better
Dietary
change
Meal
planning
Low
Green
vegetable
each meal
Breakfast on
work days
Exercise
Simple
carbohydrate
avoidance
Cardiovascular
Strength
training
No scones
Run 5 days /
week
No elevators
 Abstract & longer-term, end states
 Difficult to monitor: slow-moving & non-specific
 Typically “approach” oriented / positive affect.
 Concrete & immediate, behavioral intentions
 Specific, easier to monitor
 Mix of approach & avoidant (+ & - affect).
Attitudes & self-regulation
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Self-regulation: Basic cybernetic frame
Psychology 415; Social Basis of Health Behavior
Behavioral
intentions
Actual
behavior
Behavioral
standards
Self-monitoring of
ongoing behavior
Behavioral
“Comparator”
Attitudes & self-regulation
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Available
feedback
Potential self-regulation failures
Psychology 415; Social Basis of Health Behavior
Behavioral
intentions
Actual
behavior
Behavioral
standards
Available
feedback
Self-monitoring of
ongoing behavior
Behavioral
“Comparator”
Loose linkage between attitude / intention  behavior
 Role of habit / “automaticity,” contextual constraints
 Social network press for behavioral consistency
 Ambivalence: affective attraction of bad behavior v. pallid, highlevel action identification of being good
 Attitudes
Mixed,
complex
attitudes
& self-regulation
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Potential self-regulation failure, 2
Psychology 415; Social Basis of Health Behavior
Behavioral
intentions
Actual
behavior
Behavioral
standards
Available
feedback
Self-monitoring of
ongoing behavior
Behavioral
“Comparator”
Clarity & specificity of behavioral standards
 Concreteness & specificity of behavioral plans
 Extrinsic v. intrinsic motivation & standards
Attitudes & self-regulation
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Potential self-regulation failure, 3
Psychology 415; Social Basis of Health Behavior
Behavioral
intentions
Actual
behavior
Behavioral
standards
Available
feedback
Self-monitoring of
ongoing behavior
Behavioral
“Comparator”
Quality & amount of feedback
 Frequency & visibility of target behaviors
 Availability of feedback from others
 Simple attention, memory capacity
Attitudes & self-regulation
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Potential self-regulation failure, 4
Psychology 415; Social Basis of Health Behavior
Behavioral
intentions
Actual
behavior
Behavioral
standards
Available
feedback
Self-monitoring of
ongoing behavior
Behavioral
“Comparator”
Effortful self-awareness of behavior
 Automaticity of target behavior – Monitoring is…
 Productive for initiating behaviors
 Disruptive for automatic behaviors
 Effortful monitoring  “Coping fatigue”, generally aversive
& self-regulation 20
 Attitudes
Tediousness
of formal monitoring
Potential self-regulation failure, 5
Psychology 415; Social Basis of Health Behavior
Behavioral
intentions
Actual
behavior
Behavioral
standards
Available
feedback
Self-monitoring of
ongoing behavior
Behavioral
“Comparator”
Quality & nature of comparison
 Self-focused attention as prerequisite for comparator
 Clarity & specificity of behavioral standards
 Cognitive avoidance of “hot” information (i.e., failure)
Attitudes & self-regulation
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Potential self-regulation failure, 6
Psychology 415; Social Basis of Health Behavior
Behavioral
intentions
Actual
behavior
Behavioral
standards
Available
feedback
Self-monitoring of
ongoing behavior
Behavioral
“Comparator”
Negative “actual” v. “ought” or “ideal” comparisons
 “Actual” versus: “ought”  anxiety, shame  avoidance
“ideal”  depression  amotivation
 Self-efficacy: behavioral change versus avoidance
 Attitudes
Self-regulatory
resource models
& self-regulation 22
Potential self-regulation failure, 7
Psychology 415; Social Basis of Health Behavior
Behavioral
intentions
Actual
behavior
Behavioral
standards
Available
feedback
Self-monitoring of
ongoing behavior
Behavioral
“Comparator”
Lowering standards in the face of failure
 Motivated downward comparison processes
 “What the hell” phenomenon
 Cognitive escape / “defensive” self-evaluation
Attitudes & self-regulation
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