Control over health and patterns of health-related behaviour

This paper empirically examines the relationship between position in the social structure, beliefs about control over health and three different types of health-related behaviour. The data are drawn from two large scale community surveys (N = 4224) carried out in southern England. The results show that the relationship between the Multi-dimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) and exercise, cigarette smoking and use of alcohol was never more than modest even within different social and economic contexts. Doubts are cast upon the value of the MHLC for explaining variations in health-related behaviour and more fruitful areas for research are suggested.