Beliefs, attitudes, values and behaviour change: WACE Year 12 Health Studies Unit 3
“Explain how beliefs, attitudes and values influence health behaviour and apply behaviour change models to predict and support healthier choices”
Beliefs, attitudes and values are the internal filters that shape whether a person adopts a healthy behaviour. Behaviour change models such as the Health Belief Model and the stages of change (transtheoretical) model explain when and why people act: people change when they feel susceptible to a serious threat, see the benefits as outweighing the barriers, are cued to act, and feel able to succeed. WACE asks you to apply these models to predict behaviour and design support.
What this dot point is asking
WACE wants you to connect internal influences to observable behaviour and then use a model to explain the pattern. A strong answer defines the key terms, applies a named model to the scenario, and recommends support matched to where the person is. Marks reward correct use of model components, not just naming the model.
Beliefs, attitudes and values
A belief is something a person accepts as true, whether or not the evidence supports it. An attitude is a settled way of feeling about something that disposes a person to act in a certain way. A value is a deeply held principle about what is important or worthwhile. These three operate together: a person who values fitness, believes exercise prevents disease, and holds a positive attitude toward the gym is far more likely to exercise than someone who values convenience and believes exercise is a waste of time. Beliefs, attitudes and values are themselves shaped by culture, family, peers, media and prior experience, which links this content back to the social determinants.
Self-efficacy is a person's belief in their own ability to successfully carry out a behaviour. It is one of the strongest predictors of whether someone will start and maintain a health behaviour, because even a person who wants to change will not try if they do not believe they can succeed. Building self-efficacy through small wins and skill practice is central to effective behaviour change support.
The Health Belief Model
The Health Belief Model proposes that a person is more likely to take a health action when several perceptions line up. Perceived susceptibility is the belief that they could be affected by the condition. Perceived severity is the belief that the condition would be serious. Perceived benefits are the believed advantages of acting, and perceived barriers are the believed costs or obstacles. A cue to action, such as a symptom, a campaign or advice from a friend, triggers the decision, and self-efficacy determines whether the person follows through. Behaviour change is most likely when susceptibility and severity are high, benefits clearly outweigh barriers, a cue is present, and self-efficacy is strong.
The stages of change
The transtheoretical model describes change as a process through stages: precontemplation (not yet considering change), contemplation (weighing it up), preparation (planning and small steps), action (actively changing), and maintenance (sustaining the change), with relapse possible at any point. The value of this model is that support must be matched to the stage. Giving detailed action plans to someone in precontemplation wastes effort, while someone in maintenance needs relapse-prevention support, not basic information.
Applying the models to support change
Effective support diagnoses the internal influences and the stage, then targets them. For a person who underestimates their risk, raise perceived susceptibility with personalised information. For a person blocked by barriers, reduce the cost or difficulty of acting. For a person low in self-efficacy, build confidence through achievable steps. Matching the support to the model component or stage is what makes an intervention effective rather than generic.
How this maps to the exam
Expect a scenario describing an individual and their attitude or behaviour. You may be asked to identify the influences on their behaviour, apply a named model to explain why they have or have not changed, or recommend a strategy. Use the model's components explicitly and tie each to the scenario.
A higher-tariff question often asks you to connect internal influences to a behaviour change model. Structure it like this.
State the internal influence
Mia, 15, will not see the school nurse about her low mood. She values self-reliance, believes "asking for help is weak", and holds a negative attitude toward counselling formed from a friend's bad experience. These beliefs and that value are the starting filter.
Translate the filter into model constructs
In the Health Belief Model, her belief that help-seeking is weak inflates perceived barriers and lowers self-efficacy, while she also underrates severity ("everyone feels down sometimes"). In the stages of change she sits in precontemplation: she is not yet considering acting.
Recommend support matched to both
Because she is in precontemplation with a values-based barrier, do not hand her a referral plan. Instead normalise help-seeking through trusted peers and reframe it as a strength, gently raising perceived severity. As she moves to contemplation, lower the barrier with a low-stakes, confidential first step.
Name the predicted shift
Reframing the value and lowering barriers moves Mia from precontemplation toward contemplation, at which point a concrete, easy first action becomes effective. Linking the belief to the construct and the stage is what earns the application marks.
Students often write that the Health Belief Model or stages of change applies, then describe the behaviour generally without using the components. The marks come from applying each relevant component (susceptibility, severity, benefits, barriers, cue, self-efficacy, or the specific stage) to the person in the question and explaining what it predicts.
Exam-style questions
Questions in the style of SCSA exam questions on this dot point, each with a worked answer. They are written by ExamExplained unless tagged "Past paper"; the year shows the paper a question is modelled on.
WACE 2021-style6 marksExplain how beliefs, attitudes and values can influence an individual's health behaviour. Support your answer with an example.Show worked answer →
A 6 mark explain response needs clear definitions, the link to behaviour, and a worked example.
- Define the terms
- A belief is something accepted as true; an attitude is a settled feeling that disposes a person to act; a value is a deeply held principle about what matters.
- Explain the influence
- These internal filters shape whether a person sees a behaviour as worthwhile and acts on it. They operate together and are themselves shaped by culture, family, peers and media, so they connect to the social determinants.
- Example
- A young person who values social belonging, believes drinking is normal at parties, and holds a positive attitude toward alcohol is more likely to drink heavily than a peer who values sport, believes alcohol harms performance, and dislikes being drunk. Same setting, different behaviour, driven by the internal filters.
Markers reward accurate definitions, an explained mechanism, and an example showing how the three combine to drive behaviour.
WACE 2023-style4 marksExplain why self-efficacy is important when supporting a person to change a health behaviour.Show worked answer →
A 4 mark response needs a definition and the reason it predicts action.
Definition. Self-efficacy is a person's belief in their own ability to successfully carry out a behaviour.
Why it matters. Even a person who accepts the risk and the benefits will not act if they doubt they can succeed, so intention does not become action without confidence. Building self-efficacy through small achievable steps, skill practice and encouragement is therefore central to effective support.
Markers reward a correct definition and a clear link from self-efficacy to whether the person actually acts.