Is your health malleable or fixed? The influence of implicit theories on health-related attitudes and behaviour

Objective: Implicit theories of health describe the extent to which health is perceived as a fixed (entity theory) versus malleable (incremental theory) characteristic. In four studies, it was investigated how these theories correspond to health-related attitudes and behaviours.

Design: In Study 1 (N = 130), the relationship of implicit theories of health and health-related behaviours was assessed via self-reports. To investigate their causal influence on health-related attitudes (Study 2; N = 357) and hypothetical food choices (Study 3; N = 351), implicit theories of health were manipulated using fictitious newspaper articles. In Study 4 (N = 235), the relationship of implicit theories and health behaviours in daily life was investigated using experience sampling.

Results: Study 1 showed that a stronger incremental theory is positively associated with health behaviours like eating healthily or engaging in physical activity. Studies 2 and 3 revealed that a manipulation of implicit theories of health changes health-related attitudes and hypothetical food choices via an internal health locus of control. Study 4 showed that individuals with a stronger incremental theory reported more health-promoting behaviours in daily life.

Conclusion: These findings extend the knowledge about implicit theories as they show that they are highly relevant for health promotion.