EXSC 322 Psychology of Health Behaviors
Course will focus on the psychological and behavioral processes in health, illness, and healthcare. Psychological factors can affect health directly (e.g., stress causing the release of hormones such as cortisol which damage the body over time) and indirectly via a person's own behavior choices which can either harm or protect health (e.g., smoking or exercise). Using a biopsychosocial approach this course examines how health is the product not only of biological processes (e.g., virus, tumor.) but also of psychological processes (e.g., stress, attitudes, and behaviors) and social processes (e.g. socioeconomic status, culture, and ethnicity).