Abstract
Psychology and the social sciences play a central role in building a healthy world by bringing attention to supporting healthy families, encouraging healthy communities, and designing healthy workplaces (Rozensky et al., 2004). However, advancing health and wellbeing requires balanced attention to: chronic health risks and threats; the treatment of manifest health problems; and maximising (not optimising) health and wellbeing through positive psychological practices. The occupational context, or work environment context, is one especially important social context in which health and wellbeing can be effectively advanced (Macik-Frey et al., 2007). The behavioural and social sciences are so vitally important to the enhancement of health and wellbeing because so much of human behaviour is learned behaviour, not natural behaviour. That is, much human behaviour is socially constructed. Therefore, established learning principles offer a powerful and positive way to advancing health and wellbeing through the behavioural and social sciences. Three pathways for enhancing physical and mental health and wellbeing are:
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classical conditioning
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operant conditioning
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observational learning, or modelling.
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© 2015 James Campbell Quick, Robert J. Gatchel and Cary L. Cooper
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Quick, J.C., Gatchel, R.J., Cooper, C.L. (2015). Health and Wellbeing. In: Michie, J., Cooper, C.L. (eds) Why the Social Sciences Matter. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137269928_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137269928_3
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