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Health Behavior: An Interlocking Personal and Social Task

Leo Montada

University of Trier, Germany

Traditional health behavior models comprise only person-centered motivational components such as personal vulnerability perceptions and specific internal control beliefs. However, such factors as social responsibility, perceived prevalence rates of illnesses, attribution of control to societal agencies, and the motivation to engage oneself for public health concerns are not unrelated to individual health protection. Therefore, an alternative model is proposed, which combines traditional self-centered and social variables. This alternative model was empirically confirmed in a questionnaire study exemplified by cancer preventive activities (N = 558), which embraced personal cancer prevention as well as efforts to reduce the cancer prevalence within the general population. The readiness to engage in personal cancer preventive measures appeared to be closely related to the readiness to engage oneself for public health programs. The motivational predictors of both categories of activities had significant overlap. Implications for model building and intervention strategies to promote individual as well as public health behavior are discussed.

Key Words: cancer preventive behaviors • health behavior models • individual health • public health

Journal of Health Psychology, Vol. 6, No. 2, 131-148 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/135910530100600204


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