To what extent are social cognition models globally useful in predicting health behavior change? Discuss this statement with reference to two social cognition models with which you are familiar.



Introduction3

Discussion and Critical Evaluation4

Selected Social Cognition Models: A Brief Description5

The Health Belief Model5

Health Locus of Control model6

Selected Social Cognition Models: Their Strengths7

The Health Belief Model7

Health Locus of Control model7

Selected Social Cognition Models: Their Limitations8

The Health Belief Model8

Health Locus of Control Model9

Evolution since their Introduction9

The Health Belief Model9

Health Locus of Control model10

Inclusion of Social and/or Contextual Factors10

The Health Belief Model10

Health Locus of Control model11

Appraisal of Selected Social Cognition Models11

Conclusion12

References14

To what extent are social cognition models globally useful in predicting health behavior change?

Introduction

Social Cognition Models (SCMs) are founded on the basic assumption that people's perceptions about the real world actually stimulate a certain pattern of behavior that they show (Conner & Norman, 2005). SCMs are therefore, based on self-regulation that calls for immediate stimuli as a response to real-world behaviors. These theories define and describe a number of affective and cognitive factors that are true determinants of changes in health behaviors. This assignment is based on discussing two selected social cognitive models (The Health Belief Model and Health Locus of Control model ) in a comprehensive manner; critically evaluating their ability and competency to depict health behavior changes in addition to assessing their particular strengths and limitations. The common criticisms of these two models will help the reader understand their applicability in real-world situations along with a discussion on their inclusion/exclusion of contextual and social factors. Lastly, the assignment will entail the appraisal of each model with respect to three given criterion: the scope of research being restricted to laboratory only, evidence of ecological validity and the meaningfulness of the results of these two models, in statistical and practical terms.

Discussion and Critical Evaluation

Health behaviors around the world differ from country to country based on their own social groups and its perceptions. As an example, smoking is usually a resort for economically underprivileged community in some parts of the Western world. This translates into the fact that socio-demographic factors have the capacity to act as interventions for considerable changes in health behaviors. Such factors are usually complex to be intervened, and usually require governmental support for their condemnation or control (Talbot et.al, 2007). One of these factors that are dominant in predicting health related changes is the individual's own beliefs and perceptions about a certain set of action associated with the habit. These are referred to as health cognitions which will remain as the primary focus of this paper.

Most of the research based studies conducted so far in the given context, primarily focused on health cognitions that can be combined in some form to predict health behavior changes (Conner & Norman, 2005). These do not necessarily include individualistic health cognitions in a broader perspective, and are socially combined together to predict health behavior changes. These models are known as Social Cognition Models (SCMs) (Umeh, ...