The purpose of this article is to explore three behaviorist theories and their roles within the evolving paradigm of nursing. The authors suggest that the behaviorist theories of locus of control, self-efficacy, and the health belief model are derived from deterministic philosophical premises. These premises are in direct conflict with the premise of free will. As interpreted by the authors and many others, the emerging paradigm of nursing relies on the free will of the individual, the ability of the individual to choose for himself/herself what course of action to take, to avoid, or to pursue. The authors address the psychological deterministic philosophical premises within the three theories and utilize nursing theories to compare and contrast the views of free will and determinism. Finally, they suggest that the use of borrowed and applied theories should decline when nurse scientists are true to the philosophical assumptions of theories within nursing science.
Becker, M.H. , & Maiman, L.A. (1975) Socio-behavioral determinants of compliance with health and medical care recommendations. Medical Care, 13, 10-24
3.
Belgrave, F.Z. (1991). Psychological predictors of adjustment to disability in African Americans. Journal of Rehabiliation, 57, 37-40
4.
Benner, P. , & Wrubel, J. (1989) The primacy of caring: Stress and coping in health and illness. Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wesley.
5.
Champion, V.L. (1985). Use of the health belief model in determining the frequency of self breast exam. Research in Nursing & Health, 8, 373-379.
6.
Champion, V.L. (1988). Attitudinal variables related to intention, frequency, and proficiency of breast self-examination in women 35 and over. Research in Nursing & Health, 11, 283-291
7.
Clements, I.W. , & Roberts, F.B. (1983). Family health: A theoretical approach to nursing care. New York: Wiley.
8.
Hallal, J. (1982). The relationship of health beliefs, health locus of control and self concept to the practice of breast self-examination in adult women. Nursing Research, 31, 137-142
9.
Huebsch, J.A. (1991). Educational and behavioral strategies for successful cholesterol management. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 5 (2), 44-54.
10.
Hume, D. (1967). A treatise of hwnan nature. LA, Selby-Brigge (Ed.). Oxford: Clarendon. (Original work published 1739)
11.
James, W. (1923) The dilemma of determinism. The will to believe and other essays in popular philosophy. New York: Longmans & Green.
12.
Johnson, J.E. , Christman, N.J., & Stitt, C. (1985) Personal control interventions: Short and long tenn effects on surgical patients. Research in Nursing and Health, 8: (1), 131-145.
13.
Kenny, A. (1978). Free will and responsibility. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
14.
Lawrance, L. , & McLeroy, KR (1986). Self efficacy and health education. Journal of School Health, 56, (8), 317-321.
15.
Levenson, H. (1973). Multidimensional locus of control in psychiatric patients. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 41, 397-404.
16.
Maiman, L.A. , & Becker, M.H. (1974). The health belief model: Origins and correlates in psychological theory. Health Education Monographs, 2, 336-353.
17.
Mill, J.S. (1975). On liberty. D. Spitz (Ed.). New York: W.W. Norton. (Original work published 1859)
18.
Murdaugh, C.L. , & Verran, J.A. (1987). Theoretical modeling to predict physiological incidents of cardiac preventive behaviors. Nursing Research, 36, 384-391.
19.
Newman, M.A. , Sime, A.M., & Corcoran-Perry, S.A. (1991). The focus of the discipline of nursing. Advances in Nursing Science, 14, (1),1-6.
20.
Packard, S. , & Polifroni, E.C. (1991). The dilemma of nursing science: Current quandaries and lack of direction. Nursing Science Quarterly, 4, 7-13.
21.
Packard, S. , & Polifroni, E.C. (1992). The nature of scientific truth. Nursing Science Quarterly, 5, 158-163.
22.
Parse, R.R. (1981). Man-living-health: A theory of nursing. New York: Wiley.
23.
Parse, R.R. (1988). Caring from a human science perspective. In M.M. Leininger (Ed.), Caring: An essential human need. Proceedings of the three national caring conferences. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.
24.
Parse, R.R. (1992). Human becoming: Parse's theory of nursing. Nursing Science Quarterly, 5, 35-42.
Paterson, J.G. , & Zderad, L.T. (1976). Humanistic nursing. New York: National League for Nursing.
27.
Phillips, J.R. (1990). New methods of research: Beyond the shadows of nursing science. Nursing Science Quarterly, 3, 1-2.
28.
Rock, D.L. , Myerowitz, B.E., Maisto, S.A., & Wallston, K.A. (1987). The derivation and validation of six multidimensional health locus of control clusters. Research in Nursing and Health, 10, 185-195.
29.
Rosenstock, I.M. (1966). Why people use health services. Millbank Memorial Fund Quarterly, 44, 94-121.
30.
Rotter, J.B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychology Monographs, 80 (1), 1-28.
31.
Rutledge, D. (1987). Factors related to women's practices of breast self examination. Nursing Research, 36, 117-121.
32.
Salazar, M.K. (1991). Comparisons of four behavioral theories: A literature review. American Association of Occupational Health Nursing Journal, 39 (3), 128-135.
33.
Saudia, T.L. , Kinney, M.R., Brown, K.C., & Young-Ward, L. (1991). Health locus of control and helpfulness of prayer. Heart and Lung, 20 (1), 60-65.
34.
Strecher, V.L. , DeVellis, B.M., Becker, M.H., & Rosenstock, I.M. (1986). The role of self-efficacy in achieving health behavior changes. Health Education Quarterly, 13 (1), 73-91.
35.
Strickland, B.R. (1978). Internal-external expectancies and health related behaviors. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46, 1192-1211.
36.
Thomas, D. (1957). The collected poems of Dylan Thomas (p.128). New York: New Directions.
37.
Thorne, S.E. (1991). Methodological orthodoxy in qualitative nursing research: Analysis of the issues. Qualitative Health Research, 1 (2), 178-197.
38.
Wallston, B.S. , Wallston, K.A., Kaplan, G.D., & Maides, S.A. (1976). Development and validation of the health locus of control (HLC) scales. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 44, 580-585.
39.
Wallston, K.A. & Wallston, B.S. (1982). Who is responsible for health? The construct of health locus of control. In G. Sanders & J. Suls (Eds.), Social psychology of health and illness (pp. 65-95). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
40.
Wallston, K.A. , Wallston, B.S., & DeVillis, R. (1978). Development of the multidimensional health locus of control (MHLC) scales. Health Education Monographs, 6, 161-170.
41.
Weatherford, R. (1991). The implications of determinismLondon: Routledge.
42.
Williams, C. (1988). Free will and determinism. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett.
