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Health beliefs and attributions

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Health Psychology

Abstract

The beliefs and attributions that people hold can influence their health in one of two main ways: first, by affecting their behaviour, such as attendance at a screening programme; the food they eat; whether they take prescribed medication; and secondly, more directly by affecting a physiological system, such as the immune or cardiovascular systems. These two modes of influence are not mutually exclusive. A patient’s health may also be influenced by the beliefs and attributions of health professionals. These may affect patient outcomes in one of two ways: first, by affecting staff decisions about which medical procedures or treatments to use, and secondly by influencing patients’ cognitions. Although there is general agreement among psychologists that health beliefs and attributions are important in explaining and predicting health behaviours and health outcomes, there is less agreement about which beliefs and attributions are important, and how much of the variance in outcomes they predict.

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  1. Theresa M. Marteau
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  1. Annabel Broome Associates, Weymouth, UK

    Annabel Broome

  2. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Sue Llewelyn

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Marteau, T.M. (1995). Health beliefs and attributions. In: Broome, A., Llewelyn, S. (eds) Health Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3226-6_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3226-6_1

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