Expanding the conceptual range of health self-regulation research: A commentary

Abstract In contrast to models that endeavor to link human motives to important adjustive outcomes in a largely idealized, lock-step fashion, the theory and research presented in this special issue afford the reader an opportunity to consider the advantages of various “deep structural” conceptions of health self-regulation. I discuss how the present elaborated volitional models can help potentially overcome the “problem of psycho-semanticism”, i.e., the faulty doctrine that mental contents or propositional attitudes cause behavior simply be virtue of what they represent. I also suggest several routes by which self-regulated health-promotion efforts can become derailed, including the inherent fuzziness of many health goals, conflict within the individual's system of goals, and conflicts between the goals of the would-be self-regulator and those of significant others.

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