Socio-Cultural and
Environmental Theories of
Health Behavior Change
What is a Social/Environmental
Context?
•The frame that you place your life
picture
•The forces that influence the way in
which you develop
•The backdrop for the development of
your unique set of beliefs, attitudes
and behaviors
Social Cognitive Theory (SCT)
• An offshoot of behaviorism
• Components of SCT
– Individual characteristics
– Environmental factors
– Reciprocal determinism
Examples of SCT
• A 16 year-old girl Maria
• A 14 year-old boy Joe
• A 65 year-old man David
The Individual Characteristics of
SCT
•
•
•
•
•
•
Self-Efficacy
Behavioral Capability
Expectations
Expectancies
Self-Control
Emotional Coping
Environmental Factors of SCT
•
•
•
•
Vicarious Learning
Situation
Reinforcement
Reciprocal Determinism
Using SCT
• Let’s try the theory
Critique of SCT
• Very Complex
• Theory has gone through a shift from an
emphasis on behavioral variants to selfefficacy
Social Network Theory (SNT)
• Individual personal characteristics are not
so important to understanding behavior
• What is important is what occurs between
people that is important
– Friendships
– Family connections
– Professional relationships
SNT Issues
• Who is in a person’s network
• The frequency of interactions between people in
the network
• The types of interactions between people in the
network
• Differences in relational roles
– Leaders
– Followers
– Planners
• Are there groups or cliques that control the
social network?
Network Qualities
• Centrality vs. marginality of individuals in
the network
• Reciprocity of relationships
• Complexity or intensity of relationships
• Homogeneity or diversity of the people in
the network
• Communication patterns in the network