Behavioural change theories

In recent years, there has been increased interest in the application of these theories in the areas of health, education, criminology, energy and international development with the hope that understanding behavioural change will improve the services offered in these areas.

Thus, from this perspective, understanding and changing behavior are two separate but complementary lines of scientific investigation.

Self-efficacy[2] is an individual's impression of their own ability to perform a demanding or challenging task such as facing an exam or undergoing surgery.

The first study asked whether systematic desensitization could effect changes in avoidance behavior by improving people's expectations of their personal efficacy.

The study found that "thorough extinction of anxiety arousal to visualized threats by desensitization treatment produced differential increases in self-efficacy.

The findings also lend support to the view that perceived self-efficacy mediates anxiety arousal."

In the second experiment, Bandura examined the process of efficacy and behavioral change in individuals suffering from phobias.

He found that self-efficacy was a useful predictor of the amount of behavioral improvement that phobics could gain through mastering threatening thoughts.

Social learning theory focuses on the reciprocal interactions between these factors, which are hypothesised to determine behavioral change.

In his article, Further hypothesises that self-efficacy is important in determining the strength of the individual's intention to perform a behaviour.

In 2010, Fishbein and Ajzen introduced the reasoned action approach, the successor of the theory of planned behaviour.

An individual finally enters the maintenance stage once they exhibit the new behavior consistently for over six months.

Motivational self-efficacy, outcome-expectancies and risk perceptions are assumed to be predictors of intentions.

Although low ability is undesirable it may be unavoidable: "We are fundamentally lazy," according to BJ Fogg.

In contrast if an alarm sounds right before leaving the house reminding about packing clothing, this will take considerably less effort.

Although health education is still the area in which behavioural change theories are most often applied, theories like the stages of change model have begun to be applied in other areas like employee training and developing systems of higher education.

Although results are largely positive they are not consistent and more research on the elements that make tailoring work is necessary.