Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of boxes
- List of contributors
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction to applied social psychology
- 2 The USE of theory in applied social psychology
- 3 Applications of social psychology to increase the impact of behaviour-focused intervention
- 4 Research designs in applied social psychology
- 5 Social psychology and economic behaviour: heuristics and biases in decision making and judgement
- 6 Social psychology and immigration: relations between immigrants and host societies
- 7 Applying social psychology to the classroom
- 8 Social psychology and environmental problems
- 9 Gender issues in work and organizations
- 10 Social psychology of health and illness
- 11 Social psychology and mental health
- 12 Social psychology and modern organizations: balancing between innovativeness and comfort
- 13 Social psychology and the study of politics
- Index
- References
This chapter is part of a book that is no longer available to purchase from Cambridge Core
10 - Social psychology of health and illness
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of boxes
- List of contributors
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction to applied social psychology
- 2 The USE of theory in applied social psychology
- 3 Applications of social psychology to increase the impact of behaviour-focused intervention
- 4 Research designs in applied social psychology
- 5 Social psychology and economic behaviour: heuristics and biases in decision making and judgement
- 6 Social psychology and immigration: relations between immigrants and host societies
- 7 Applying social psychology to the classroom
- 8 Social psychology and environmental problems
- 9 Gender issues in work and organizations
- 10 Social psychology of health and illness
- 11 Social psychology and mental health
- 12 Social psychology and modern organizations: balancing between innovativeness and comfort
- 13 Social psychology and the study of politics
- Index
- References
Summary
Description of problems in the field
The societal burden of unhealthy behaviours
When a baby is born, we can estimate the expected number of years the new individual will live. This life expectancy is calculated based on statistics regarding how many years people in a given population usually live. Life expectancy can be an important indicator of health and illness in populations. During the past forty years, life expectancy has increased all over the world (Table 10.1), although in some regions more than in others. Besides the number of years people live, one can calculate the number of healthy years in a person's life. The at-birth expected number of healthy years lived ranges from about forty years in African countries to about seventy years in developed countries (Mathers et al., 2004).
Although the increase in life expectancy is a good sign, many factors continue to threaten health and life expectancy. In developing and in developed countries, different factors threaten life expectancy. In developing countries the relatively low life expectancy is largely determined by a high child mortality rate, often related to infectious diseases, bad housing and malnutrition. Most of the factors that underlie the high child mortality rate are more strongly determined by structural factors such as economic policy and the quality of the healthcare system than by individual behaviour. In developed countries life expectancy is largely related to lifestyle factors, such as smoking tobacco and dietary choices. Lifestyle factors are important causes of cancers and cardiovascular diseases.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Applied Social PsychologyUnderstanding and Managing Social Problems, pp. 226 - 248Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008
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