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The Medias influence on health Essay

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The mass media (including everything from television and music to popular novels and fan cultures), creates an endless and accessible flow of information. “What we know about the world beyond out immediate surroundings comes to us via the media (Yates 1999).” The technology of electronic media and the art of advertising have combined to create very powerful tools of influence. These tools are capable of shaping the attitudes, values and behaviors of large numbers of people (Walsh.) By identifying and examining the various forms of health information contained in the media, problems arise because the media does not present it’s messages in a neutral and straightforward way. Because the media distorts reality, …show more content…

Theories and models of health behavior can be used to explain behavior and clarify the effects of external influences on individuals. Health promotion educators use many different models for understanding behavior change and designing successful interventions. Some common models are used to describe and predict behavior. Skinner and Pavlov introduced a behavioral and operant conditioning theory that stated humans are biological machines and behavior is a product of conditioning, Freud argued humans are driven by subconscious instinct in his Psychoanalytic theory, and Rogers started a wellness movement in his humanist and client-centered view. Behavior theories exist on many levels including individual, familial, and societal.
On an individual level, the Health Belief Model states that changes in behavior depend on an individuals belief that a health problem is serious (perceived severity), that one may be susceptible to the problem (threat), that changing one's behavior will reduce the threat (benefit), ones perception of the obstacles necessary to change the behavior (barriers), and the belief that one has the ability to change one's behavior (self- efficacy.)
On a familial and/or societal level, the Theory of

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