Explain how psychological and sociological insights help nurses to Essay

Explain how psychological and sociological insights help nurses to understand health lifestyles on smoking tobacco - Essay Example Psychology is the study of behaviour through emotions and processes, with strong focus being put on the measurement and observance of behaviour . Psychology focuses on understanding the reasons that people (or other species) behave in particular ways. Some examples of psychological drivers are: personality, conformity to the environment around them, stress and coping mechanisms, values and influence of other members of society such as through peer pressure . In terms of health, psychology can be used in research to provide public health in a beneficial manner . This essay will focus on a few specific psychological drivers: influence of society, the sense of self worth, health locus of control theory and the role of nutrition and health. Sociology in contrast is the study of the social factors that surround individuals and how they affect every aspect of their life, such as decision making, health, illness and health care. Sociologists study how social forces promote some factors in i ndividual’s lives while repressing others, as well as the drivers behind this. Some examples of sociological drivers include: financial status, region that the individual lives in, environmental factors such as pollution and socioeconomic factors such as class . This essay will focus on several sociological drivers and how these affect individual’s decisions to smoke. ... Understanding why people make the decisions they do, and the role that different factors play in their decision making process plays a large part in the ability to understand and empathise with patients . This, in turn, makes the role of nurses in promoting health and in dealing with patients in general easier. Psychological Drivers One key psychological driver of behaviour is the influence of society. Smoking has always been very heavily driven by society, by trends and by advertising, particularly in movies. The prevalence of smoking as a form of recreation, of stress relief and for socialisation has been a large driver for smoking in many individuals, as well as peer pressure towards smoking particularly in adolescents. Throughout much of the early 20th century there was strong social pressure for men to begin smoking, with it considered to be a male orientated activity. In this time period few women smoked, as it was considered to be unseemly, and there was strong social disappro val. Towards the latter half of the 20th century smoking in women became more accepted, and the differences in smoking between genders decreased substantially, at least in developed countries. However, in developed countries there is still a strong difference in gender based mortality as a consequence of smoking, as death from smoking is generally related to many years of accumulated toxins . An important aspect of psychology is the way an individual views themselves. People hold a general representation of themselves mentally, which can encompass appearance, emotions, behaviour, self-worth as well as many more aspects. This representation of self often does not match the