Actual and intended health-related information seeking and health locus of control.
Individuals with an internal health locus of control orientation and high health value have been found to express an intent to obtain a greater mean number of health pamphlets than people with an external orientation and/or low health value. After measures of behavioral intent were obtained, college students were afforded the opportunity to actually receive health-related written information. The previously stated finding was replicated for intended but not for actual health-related information seeking. The weak relationship found between actual and intended information seeking calls into question studies using intent measures as if they were almost identical to actual behavior.
D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000523:psychology; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation