Understanding considerations and priorities in health behaviours: A multi-dimensional risk-benefit perspective

Health behaviours and decisions are complex and involve different dimensions of individuals' lives. The current study aimed to investigate considerations and their priorities in health decision and behaviour adoption via a risk-benefit framework unifying elements of mainstream models of health behaviour. We aimed to explore the core dimensions of the outcomes being considered by people and individual differences in perceived importance across dimensions. Two studies were conducted among U.S. adult residents. Study 1 (N = 295) involved eliciting qualitative responses of the health decisions or behaviours that participants encounter in their everyday life, and ratings of the associated dimensions. Study 2 (N = 400) assessed participants' ratings of the importance of outcomes and dimensions across various health decisions and behaviours. Both studies revealed that people considered dimensions beyond health risk and benefit. The dimensions varied their priorities, with health and emotional outcomes being the top considerations. Participants also showed asymmetric considerations of benefit and risk within each dimension. The latent profile analyses in Study 2 also revealed two distinct groups of individuals in risk and benefit considerations across dimensions. The findings highlight that acknowledging individual differences in the weighting and evaluation of outcomes across domains is essential for more tailored health communication and interventions.