From theory to intervention (lectures)
Lecture 1: Introduction
Aim of the course
Designing an intervention in a structured way (PATHS approach)
Analyzing the problem, connecting theory to practice
Complexity of behavior
Health behavior determinants:
o Knowledge
About health
About what healthy behavior entails
About consequences of behavior
o Skills
Self-regulation
Obtaining knowledge
Impact on behavior
Impact on environment
o Motivation
Intrinsic motivation
Incentives
o Environment
Cues for behavior
Social support
Complexity
o Intention
Intention-behavior gap
Self-regulation
o Automatic behavior
Habits
Impulse
Nudging
o Norms
Injunctive (what should you be doing)
Descriptive (what are other people doing)
Interventions don’t always target the actual determinants
o For example:
Providing information/education/knowledge
Telling people what to do
Trying to scare people into behaving a certain way
, Three main intentions that cause behavior
Assumption: attitude intention behavior
Meta-analysis: Successful interventions lead to medium/large effects on intention,
and small/medium effects on behavior (so we lose a lot of effectiveness along the
way)
o Moderators: control, habitual, impulse, social context
Descriptive norms are strong predictors of behavior (seeing my fellow students is a
stronger force to come to the lecture than my teacher telling me to do so)
Broken window theory
Keizer, Lindenberg & Steg, 2008
Does a visible breaking of a rule/norm result in other norms shifting?
Flyers on bikes without a trashcan nearby
o Condition 1: with visible graffiti on wall behind (breaking of a rule)
o Condition 2: without graffiti
o In condition 1 33% drop their flyer on the ground, in condition 2 69%
o So more littering when there was graffiti on the wall social cues
PATHS
Problem:
o Identifying and defining the problem
o Is this a concrete, applied problem for which psychological theory can offer a
solution?
o What is the problem?
o Why is it a problem?
o Who is the problem?
Analysis
o Developing theory-based explanations
o Specifying an outcome variable
Relevant
Lecture 1: Introduction
Aim of the course
Designing an intervention in a structured way (PATHS approach)
Analyzing the problem, connecting theory to practice
Complexity of behavior
Health behavior determinants:
o Knowledge
About health
About what healthy behavior entails
About consequences of behavior
o Skills
Self-regulation
Obtaining knowledge
Impact on behavior
Impact on environment
o Motivation
Intrinsic motivation
Incentives
o Environment
Cues for behavior
Social support
Complexity
o Intention
Intention-behavior gap
Self-regulation
o Automatic behavior
Habits
Impulse
Nudging
o Norms
Injunctive (what should you be doing)
Descriptive (what are other people doing)
Interventions don’t always target the actual determinants
o For example:
Providing information/education/knowledge
Telling people what to do
Trying to scare people into behaving a certain way
, Three main intentions that cause behavior
Assumption: attitude intention behavior
Meta-analysis: Successful interventions lead to medium/large effects on intention,
and small/medium effects on behavior (so we lose a lot of effectiveness along the
way)
o Moderators: control, habitual, impulse, social context
Descriptive norms are strong predictors of behavior (seeing my fellow students is a
stronger force to come to the lecture than my teacher telling me to do so)
Broken window theory
Keizer, Lindenberg & Steg, 2008
Does a visible breaking of a rule/norm result in other norms shifting?
Flyers on bikes without a trashcan nearby
o Condition 1: with visible graffiti on wall behind (breaking of a rule)
o Condition 2: without graffiti
o In condition 1 33% drop their flyer on the ground, in condition 2 69%
o So more littering when there was graffiti on the wall social cues
PATHS
Problem:
o Identifying and defining the problem
o Is this a concrete, applied problem for which psychological theory can offer a
solution?
o What is the problem?
o Why is it a problem?
o Who is the problem?
Analysis
o Developing theory-based explanations
o Specifying an outcome variable
Relevant
