How do I feel about the behavior? The interplay of affective associations with behaviors and cognitive beliefs as influences on physical activity behavior

Behaviors such as physical inactivity and poor dietary choices contribute to the occurrence of multiple chronic diseases (Mok-dad, Marks, Stroup, & Gerberding, 2004). Because behaviors are individually chosen and regulated, reducing disease morbid-ity and mortality requires understanding how individuals make health behavioral decisions. In this article, we examine how feel-ings associated with health behavioral choices influence individ-uals ’ behavioral practices. We also explore how such associated feelings interface with cognitive constructs examined in existing health decision-making models to determine behavior. Through-out the article, we use the term affective associations to refer to the feelings associated with a specific health behavior and cogni-tive beliefs to refer to the information one knows and the thoughts one has about the behavior. Affective Associations With Health Behavior