Proposed Model of the Relationship of Risk Information Seeking and Processing to the Development of Preventive Behaviors

We articulate a model that focuses on characteristics of individuals that might predispose them to seek and process information about health in different ways. Specifically, the model proposes that seven factors—(1) individual characteristics, (2) perceived hazard characteristics, (3) affective resp...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental research 1999-02, Vol.80 (2), p.S230-S245
Main Authors: Griffin, Robert J., Dunwoody, Sharon, Neuwirth, Kurt
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
behavior
Biological and medical sciences
Communication
General populations
Health Behavior
Humans
information
Information Services
Medical sciences
Models, Theoretical
Prevention and actions
Public Health
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
risk
Risk Management
Risk-Taking
Social Conditions
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We articulate a model that focuses on characteristics of individuals that might predispose them to seek and process information about health in different ways. Specifically, the model proposes that seven factors—(1) individual characteristics, (2) perceived hazard characteristics, (3) affective response to the risk, (4) felt social pressures to possess relevant information, (5) information sufficiency, (6) one's personal capacity to learn, (7) beliefs about the usefulness of information in various channels—will influence the extent to which a person will seek out this risk information in both routine and nonroutine channels and the extent to which he or she will spend time and effort analyzing the risk information critically. By adapting and synthesizing aspects of Eagly and Chaiken's Heuristic-Systematic Model and Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior, we also expect that people who engage in more effortful information seeking and processing are more likely to develop risk-related cognitions, attitudes, and behaviors that are more stable (i.e., less changeable or volatile) over time. Since most forms of health information campaigns attempt to get people to adopt habitual or lifestyle changes, factors leading to the stability or volatility of those behavioral changes are essential concerns.
ISSN:0013-9351
1096-0953
DOI:10.1006/enrs.1998.3940