Pearson BTEC National Applied Psychology: Book 2

Specification terms Cost-benefit analysis An individual weighs up the balance between the perceived benefits of changing behaviour and the perceived barriers (obstacles to change). Demographic variable The characteristics of a population and an individual, such as age, sex, education level, income level, marital status, occupation, religion. Health belief model Predicts the likelihood of behaviour change. The key factors are perceived seriousness, perceived susceptibility, cost- benefit analysis, demographic variables, cues to action and self-efficacy. Beliefs about health screening Almost 1000 women die each year in the UK from cancer of the cervix. But there is a test that can detect abnormal cells at an early stage. It used to be called the smear test , but even the name was putting women off having it. So now it ’ s known as cervical screening . Every woman in the UK is invited for their first test when they reach 25. But still 29% of women do not take up the offer (in some parts of the UK it ’ s over 40%). That ’ s partly due to embarrassment and issues concerning body image. But for some women, it ’ s because they don ’ t believe they are likely to get cervical cancer. Others don ’ t realise exactly how devastating the disease can be. But screening makes early detection of cell abnormalities much more likely, and this has huge benefits for young women such as Anna Crib. She broadcast her cervical screening test live on Channel Mum. You can see it here: tinyurl.com/y6pe6rz9 All of the factors involved in deciding to have a test are explored in the health belief model on this spread. Key concepts of the model The health belief model (HBM), first developed by Irwin Rosenstock (1966), is a psychological theory that tries to explain why people do or do not engage in healthy behaviour. Rosenstock related the behaviour to the person’s beliefs. The essence of the model can be summed up in three questions that an individual might ask themselves: 1. How serious are the consequences (perceived seriousness)? 2. How likely am I to get the disease or illness (perceived susceptibility)? 3. What are the advantages versus disadvantages of taking this action ( cost-benefit analysis which weighs up perceived benefits versus perceived barriers)? 1. Perceived seriousness Whether a person changes their behaviour or not depends partly on how severe they think the consequences will be if they do not change. For example, condoms can help avoid sexually transmitted diseases such as chlamydia . Some people might think this is not serious enough to start using a condom regularly. On the other hand, contracting HIV is a more severe outcome so condom use is more likely if the person perceives this as a likely consequence. Perceived seriousness is not just about health. It includes other outcomes as well, for example the effects on family, work and social relationships. 2. Perceived susceptibility Consider the example of condom use. Someone having unprotected sex has to believe that they are personally and realistically vulnerable (susceptible) to the illness or disease that condoms protect against. If the person considers themselves exclusively heterosexual and believes HIV/AIDS is a ‘gay disease’, they will probably not perceive themselves as susceptible (‘HIV only affects gay men, I’m not a gay man, therefore I can’t get HIV and I don’t need to use a condom’). 3. Cost-benefit analysis The perceived benefits of a health-related action are balanced against obstacles that stop the person taking that action. Perceived benefits In order to start using condoms during sex, the person has to believe that this action will bring them benefits. The main benefit is that a condom is an effective way of protecting themselves (and their partners) from disease. Another is that using one shows a partner that protecting their health is important. Perceived barriers In our example, perceived barriers might include the inconvenience of using condoms during sex, the belief that they reduce pleasure, the suggestion of a lack of trust in a relationship and so on. Modifying factors Demographic variables The central elements of the HBM are influenced by several demographic variables – your characteristics such as your age, gender, culture and so on. This helps to explain how it is that two people who experience the same health- related challenges differ in their perceptions of seriousness, susceptibility, benefits and barriers – and therefore one changes their behaviour and the other might not. Cues to action Information that is presented to an individual may predispose them to ‘readiness to act’ and affect their perceived seriousness/susceptibility. According to Godfrey Hochbaum (1958), such information (cues) can be internal (e.g. experience of symptoms such as pain) or external (e.g. media campaigns, awareness of other people with the disease, advice from medical professionals). These cues are crucial in shifting the person from thinking about changing their behaviour to actually changing it. Self-efficacy (a person’s belief in their own competence) This was a later addition to the HBM (Rosenstock et al . 1988), referring to the person’s expectation that they are capable of making a behavioural change. This is closely related to perception of skill. For example, being able to use a condom effectively and sensitively (and asking a partner to do so) takes some skill. If a person has a low sense of self-efficacy in relation to condom use this will directly affect the likelihood that they engage in this health behaviour. Theory 1: Health belief model Content area A2: Theories of stress and addiction The health belief model. Likelihood of engaging in preventive or treatment behaviour Demographic variables Cues to action Self-efficacy Perceived seriousness of an illness Perceived susceptibility to an illness Cost-benefit analysis Perceived benefits Perceived barriers 14 Unit 3: Health psychology