Social psychological factors in lifestyle change and their relevance to policy

By G. Maio, Bas Verplanken, A. S. R. Manstead, Wolfgang Stroebe, C. Abraham, P. Sheeran, Mark Conner. 2007

104 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Crises in obesity and changes in the environment illustrate the need to change problematic behaviors and lifestyles in large segments of the population. This article uses social psychological theory and research to understand methods for facilitating lifestyle change. A basic assumption in the social psychological perspective is that the environment and the person interact to determine behavior. Both factors are important for understanding “upstream” and “downstream” approaches to lifestyle change (McKinlay, 1993; Verplanken & Wood, 2006) and consideration of one factor without the other may be disastrous. We review evidence from within and outside of the health context to illustrate the upstream and downstream approaches and then describe implications for public policy and intervention. The evidence and recommendations encompass a wide range of behaviors, ranging from speeding and intoxicated driving to eating an unhealthy diet and energy conservation. When armed with the relevant social psychological theory and evidence, lifestyle change campaigns are likely to be successful.

Subfields: Applied Psychology, Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/2f4b7f56f69ac8771efa91243f22ddb396bd8814

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In Applied Psychology

In Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

In Sociology and Political Science

Citations in the corpus

Public understanding of, and attitudes to, climate change: UK and international perspectives and policy (2012, background): “Interventions to encourage behavioural change can be ‘upstream’ or ‘downstream’ (Maio et al., 2007).”
Life Events as Windows of Opportunity for Changing Towards Sustainable Consumption Patterns? (2012, background): “The linking of interventions to context changes has been discussed as a promising strategy, especially in the health sector (Maio et al. 2008; Verplanken and Wood 2006; Wood et al. 2005).”
Towards Autonomous Transportation. Passengers’ Experiences, Perceptions and Feelings in a Driverless Shuttle Bus in Finland (2019, background): “Even if behavioural r utines are relatively hard to modify, they can be changed [51].”
The dragons of inaction: psychological barriers that limit climate change mitigation and adaptation. (2011, background): “…for the mitigation of climate change impacts (e.g., Hobson, 2003) because many habitual behaviors are extremely resistant to permanent change (e.g., eating habits), and others are only changed slowly, over decades (e.g., the rates of smoking and the use of safety belts) (Maio et al., 2007).”
Encouraging pro-environmental behaviour: the role of sustainability-focused events (2013, background): “Social psychological theory posits that human behaviour and behaviour change are determined both by the individual and by the external environment (Maio et al., 2007).”
Reference Report: An overview of behaviour change models and their uses (2008, background): “…the role of cues, Cialdini writes how routinised behaviour becomes detached from the original motivating factors; changing those factors (eg. attitudes or intentions) will not necessarily change the habit, as their power in influencing the behaviour has become attenuated (cited in Maio et al 2007).”