Campaigns to End Violence against Women and Girls - Virtual ...

Campaign Evaluation, and O’Sullivan et al., 2003. A Field Guide to Designing a Health
Communication Strategy).
MAJOR BEHAVIOUR CHANGE THEORIES
1. The theory of reasoned action explains behaviour as a result of the person’s
intention to perform that behaviour. That intention is influenced by (i) the person’s
own attitude towards the behaviour, or (ii) the belief that people important to the
person think she/ he should or should not perform the behaviour. Of course, the
person’s own ideas are influenced by the society she or he lives in. (Ajzen and
Fishbein, 1980. Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behaviour)
2. Social cognitive theory suggests that self-efficacy—the belief that one has the
skills and abilities necessary to perform the behaviour —and motivation are
necessary for behaviour change. In other words, a person has to believe she/ he can
perform the behaviour in various circumstances and, she/ he has an incentive
(positive or negative) to do it (Bandura, A., 1992. Exercise of personal agency
through the self-efficacy mechanism).
3. The health belief model identifies two factors that influence health protective
behaviour: (i) the feeling of being personally threatened by disease, and (ii) the
belief that the benefits of adopting the protective health behaviour will outweigh the
perceived costs of it.
4. The stages of change model views behaviour change as a sequenced learning
process in five main stages (pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action,
maintenance). The model holds that to get people to change their behaviour, it is
necessary to determine at which stage they are and then to develop interventions
that move them to the following stages (Prochaska, J. et al., 1992. In search of how
people change: Applications to addictive behaviours).
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Campaigns December 2011