Week 2

Question 1

Steps in changing unhealthy behavior

Answer 1

1. What is the target group and target behavior?
2. What determinants play the most important role in predicting this behavior?
3. Which determinants are susceptible to change in your target population?

Question 2

Information provision

Answer 2

Giving people information about the wanted or unwanted behavior. Should take into account factors like outcome expertancies, personal relevance etc.

Question 2

Tool 1:
Boosting self-efficacy
(Social Cognitive Theory)

Answer 2

Self-efficacy is important for behavior change. There are various sources of self-efficacy:
1. Own previous experiences
2. Vicarious others experiences
3. Verbal persuasion
4. Emotional arousal

Question 3

Tool 2:
Using social norms
(Theory of Planned Behavior/ Reasoned Action Approach)

Answer 3

Social norms can be used in 4 different ways:
- Identification: you are more likely to change the behavior when you identify with the group.
- Majority norms: what most people do.
- Injunctive norms: what other people think you should do.
- Descriptive norms: telling people what they have to do. Is more effective.

Question 4

Tool 3:
Fear appeals
(Health Behavior Model)

Answer 4

A persuasive communication that tries to scare people into changing their attitudes by conjuring negative consequences that will occur if they do not comply with the message recommendations.

Question 5

The effectiveness of fear appeals depends on

Answer 5

• Vulnerability: you have to make sure that the behavior applies to hem –> they are vulnerable to it.
• Severity: if you engage in the behavior the consequences can be severe.

Question 5

Extended Parallel Process Model

Answer 5

Explains how fear appeal works. When people experience a perceived threat and they are susceptible to this threat and they think that the consequences are severe enough –> this will create fear. This leads to protection motivation, which leads to danger control processen (like wearing a helmet on a bike).

Question 6

The downside of fear appeals

Answer 6

Fear appeals should always go hand in hand with alternative behavior strategies, because otherwise they can engage in defensive responses like ignoring the information. This is why a lot of fear appeals (like pictures on cigarettes) are rarely effective.

Question 7

Tool 4:
Self-monitoring
(Health Action Process Approach)

Answer 7

Evaluating your ongoing performance relative to the standard and responding accordingly (ex: your heart-rate, steps, quality of sleep etc.). Is small to medium effective, but can be seen as a promising technique.

Question 8

Tool 5:
Implementation intentions / action planning

Answer 8

A self-regulation skill for making plans during the volitional phase. If you use this strategy then you assume that people are already motivated. You make an if-then plan of when, where and how you are going to perform the behavior.
Ex: if I come home I will put on my running shoes and go for a run.

Question 9

The effectivity of implementation strategies / action planning

Answer 9

• It causes increased activation of the specified cue: the situation is more likely to be recognised in the moment as a good opportunity to act.
• It caused automatic activation of the specified response: you make a mental association between the situaton and the desired response.

Is medium to large effective.

Question 10

Habits

Answer 10

A mental association between a cue and goal-directed behavior. A habit will develop when behavior is performed repeatedly in a stable environment. When it becomes habituated, the context triggers the behavior automatically.

Question 11

Popcorn study of habits

Answer 11

Giving people old popcorn. They would still eat it with their dominant hand, because it is a habit. But they won’t eat it with their non-dominant hand, because the behavior is disrupted and not automatic anymore.

Question 12

Nudging
(Dual process models)

Answer 12

Strategic use of mental shortcuts. Any aspect of the choice architecture that alters people’s behavior in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives. To count it as a nudge, it must be easy and cheap to avoid.

Question 13

Different types of nudging

Answer 13

• Making use of salience: making things more or less noticeable.
• Social proof nudge: using social norms of people we identify with.
• Defaults: standard options.

Question 14

Libertarian Paternalism

Answer 14

Making the good choice a bit easier by suggesting people what to do (paternalism but more free).

Question 15

Advantages of nudges

Answer 15

+ No need for cognitive resources.
+ No need for strong motivation.
+ Highly acceptable.

Question 16

Disadvantage of nudging

Answer 16

One shot localised intervention (very small and limited). You will need a lot of nudges to make a big behavior change.