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Unrealistic optimism and the Health Belief Model.

V A Clarke1, H Lovegrove, A Williams

  • 1School of Psychology, Deakin University, Victoria, Australia. vac@deakin.edu.au

Journal of Behavioral Medicine
|September 14, 2000
PubMed
Summary
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Many people avoid healthy behaviors due to unrealistic optimism. This study found optimistic bias affects perceptions of cancer risks, benefits, and barriers, impacting health behavior engagement.

Area of Science:

  • Health Psychology
  • Behavioral Science
  • Risk Perception

Background:

  • Health behavior theories, like the Health Belief Model (HBM), and risk perception theories, such as unrealistic optimism, often explain health choices separately.
  • A gap exists in understanding how unrealistic optimism influences various components of health behavior models.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the extent of unrealistic optimism across all elements of the Health Belief Model (HBM) in the context of cancer screening.
  • To determine if optimistic bias influences perceptions of cancer severity, curability, screening benefits, and barriers.

Main Methods:

  • Two studies were conducted using random-digit-dialed telephone interviews.
  • Study 1: 164 women (50-70 years) on breast cancer screening mammography.

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  • Study 2: 200 men (45-60 years) on prostate cancer screening (PSA test).

    • Main Results:

    • Women exhibited optimistic bias regarding breast cancer risk, severity, and screening barriers, but not perceived benefits.
    • Men showed optimistic bias across all HBM variables for prostate cancer: risk, severity, benefits, and barriers.
    • Unrealistic optimism was evident for all assessed elements of the HBM.

    Conclusions:

    • Unrealistic optimism extends beyond perceived risk to encompass all components of the Health Belief Model.
    • Understanding this broader optimistic bias is crucial for designing effective health behavior interventions.
    • Findings suggest a more integrated approach combining health behavior and risk perception theories is needed.