Psychology of Behaviour Change

In the course ‘Psychology of Behaviour Change’ you will learn about the psychological processes that inform eating behaviour, and the challenges in changing these behaviours. You receive a recent model to explain how many people can display eating behaviours that run counter to their intentions. This model will also be used to connect biological, sensory, consumer-level and psychological processes to understand eating behaviour. This course will focus in depth on the different psychological processes that explain differences in people’s eating behaviour with a strong emphasis on automatic processes that steer behaviour in the moment of food choice and eating, and how these contribute to current difficulties to behaviour change. It will focus on the question of how people’s eating behaviour can be changed by employing psychological insights and interventions, and how to deal with psychological resistance to change. You will learn how these psychological insights can be applied and integrated in two distinct approaches to behaviour change: ‘Nudging’ and ‘Boosting’. In addition, you will learn to design strategies to change behaviour and reflect on the applied and ethical implications of the two different approaches by literature self-studies, quiz learnings and groupwork assignments.

After successful completion of this course students are expected to be able to:

• Explain human eating behaviour with the help of a psychological model
• Explain how psychological processes contribute to food choice and eating behaviour
• Explain challenges in changing (eating) behaviour and how these may be addressed by targeting (automatic) psychological processes
• Evaluate the applied value of psychological behaviour change insights and interventions
• Describe differences between the nudging and boosting approach to behaviour change including the costs and benefits of each approach
• Critically reflect on the applied and ethical implications of different approaches to behaviour change for eating behaviour

Assumed Knowledge:
Basic knowledge of biology, psychology, nutrition and/or health sciences. This course is part of the minor Psychobiology of Eating Behaviour.