Compare and Contrast the Health Belief Model and the Theory of Planned Behaviour as Explanations of Why People Do and Do Not Perform a Range of Health Behaviours.

Compare and Contrast the Health Belief Model and the Theory of Planned Behaviour as Explanations of Why People Do and Do Not Perform a Range of Health Behaviours.

  • Submitted By: nwallace
  • Date Submitted: 12/20/2011 5:12 AM
  • Category: Psychology
  • Words: 1978
  • Page: 8
  • Views: 8

Compare and contrast the health belief model and the theory of planned behaviour as explanations of why people do and do not perform a range of health behaviours.

Overview. This essay will consist of five sections. In the first section the health belief model (HBM) and theory of planned behaviour (TPB) will be outlined, with reference to evidence supporting the constructs included in the models. The second section will consider the extent to which the perceived behavioural control (PBC) construct in the TPB and the self efficacy construct in the HBM overlap. Section three will compare the extent to which each model views individuals as rational processors of information. Section four will focus on one of the main distinctions between the models, the social norm construct included in the TPB. Finally, section five will explore another difference between the models which is concerned with the extent to which the inter-relationship between beliefs is accounted for.

Section 1. The HBM is based on beliefs around illness whereas the TPB is about behaviour-specific cognitions (Conner & Norman, 2005). The health belief model is an expectancy value model in the sense that it is about what you expect to happen and how you evaluate what is going to happen
This section will outline the six main components of the HBM. The first two components refer to the threat posed by a health concern, including perceived susceptibility to the health condition and perceived severity of the health threat. The next two components, perceived benefits and perceived barriers, are concerned with the evaluation of behaviours to avoid the threat. Two other factors which influence readiness to act that are also often added to the HBM include the construct of self efficacy and cues to action. There are several studies supporting the explanations proposed by the HBM (Becker 1974; Becker et al. 1977; Becker & Rosenstock 1984). However, research conducted by Harrison et al (1992) has shown that...

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