Understanding personal health thresholds
A conceptual framework for health education
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21601143 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Shan Li (0000-0002-3095-3721, Lehigh University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 125 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 766-780 |
| Publication date | 2025-11-17 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Health Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0965-4283 • E-ISSN: 1758-714X |
| Publisher | Emerald (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1108/he-03-2025-0034 |
| OpenAlex | W4414066693 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 49 |
Purpose This study introduces the personal health threshold model, a new conceptual framework that explains how individuals categorize health behaviors. The model aims to elucidate the psychological mechanisms underlying selective adherence to health behaviors and inform more effective health education approaches. Design/methodology/approach The model integrates insights from existing research streams, including compensatory health beliefs, licensing effects, risk perception, health lifestyle profiling, cognitive dissonance, self-exempting beliefs and health behavior clustering. By synthesizing these diverse perspectives, the model provides a comprehensive understanding of how various health behaviors are categorized, maintained and enacted in daily life. Findings The model consists of three core components: boundary establishment, boundary maintenance and dual decision-making. Boundary establishment refers to the cognitive categorization of health behaviors into non-negotiable and negotiable behaviors, influenced by various factors. Boundary maintenance elucidates the psychological mechanisms that preserve these boundaries, including compensatory justification, selective risk perception, identity reinforcement and dissonance management. Dual decision-making highlights the fundamentally different decision-making processes for behaviors on either side of personal thresholds. Originality/value The model is the first to conceptualize the psychological boundary mechanism that explains selective adherence to health behaviors. It uniquely integrates insights from seven distinct research areas, creating a new theoretical framework that challenges traditional health education approaches. The model offers new directions for developing more effective interventions that work with rather than against these established boundaries
Categorization · Cognition · Cognitive dissonance · Conceptual framework · Conceptual model · Health belief model · Health education · Health promotion · Psychological intervention · Behavioral Health and Interventions · Cultural Differences and Values · Social and Intergroup Psychology
Self-Determination Theory
Unrealistic Optimism
Which modifiable health risk behaviours are related? A systematic review of the clustering of Smoking, Nutrition, Alcohol and Physical activity (‘SNAP’) health risk factors
Stage theories of health behavior
Perceived Control and the Optimistic Bias
The influence of discrete emotions on judgement and decision-making
Licensing Effect in Consumer Choice
Compensatory health beliefs
Perceived behavioral control moderating effects in the theory of planned behavior
A systematic review on the clustering and co-occurrence of multiple risk behaviours
Temporal self-regulation theory
Risk Perception
Social identity and health-related behavior
Compensatory beliefs and intentions contribute to the prediction of caloric intake in dieters
License to sin
Decision fatigue
Health Lifestyle Theory and the Convergence of Agency and Structure
The Study of Boundaries in the Social Sciences
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |