Abstract
The present study advances the understanding of how medical drama viewing influences healthy lifestyle behaviors (e.g., smoking, exercising, and consuming vegetables) by examining the role of the health locus of control (HLOC) beliefs and education level. An analysis of nationally representative data reveals that watching medical dramas is positively associated with chance and powerful others’ HLOC beliefs. In addition, healthy lifestyle behaviors are positively associated with the internal HLOC belief and are negatively associated with the chance and powerful others’ HLOC beliefs. Research findings demonstrate that there are indirect effects of medical drama viewing on these behaviors via chance and powerful others’ HLOC beliefs. The indirect effect through the powerful others’ HLOC belief is also contingent on the education level. The implications for the role of HLOC beliefs and education level in terms of the effects of medical dramas on health-promoting behaviors are discussed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 392-401 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Health Communication |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2019 Mar 21 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2017, © 2017 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Health(social science)
- Communication
