Covert self-reinforcers, fear of consequences, and health behavior

A sample of 125 U.S. college students reported how frequently they exercised vigorously; wore seat belts in automobiles; and avoided consumption of red meat and foods high in dietary cholesterol, saturated fat, and salt. They also reported their fears of long-term negative effects from the unhealthful alternatives and both the frequencies and intensities of 6 self-administered covert consequences: 3 positive for healthful behaviors and 3 negative for the unhealthful alternatives. Diet-related health behaviors were best predicated by a single scale composed of all 12 covert-consequence items. Factor analyses suggested the use of 2 scales for exercise and use of seat belts: 1 rating positive consequences and the other rating negative consequences. For both behaviors, only the positive-item scale predicted in multiple regression. Fear was correlated with all health behaviors except exercise, but it contributed independently only to red-meat avoidance.