Understanding Self-Rated Health: Examining the Mediating Effect of Self-Efficacy

Understanding self-rated health (i.e., individuals' perception of their health status) is essential because it not only serves as a reliable and valid indicator of population and individual health, but also provides an important basis to formulate health policies and to evaluate the efficacy of these policies (Salomon et al., 2009). Drawing on the social cognitive theory and its notion of the generative capacity of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1986), the purpose of this study was two-fold: 1) to identify the factors associated with self-efficacy to manage one’s health and 2) to examine the mediating role of self-efficacy in the relationship between those factors and individuals' self-rated health. Data for this study were obtained through the International Studies to Investigate Global Health Information Trends program. Eleven hundred adult Hong Kong residents participated in an online survey. Findings reveal that mastery experience, online vicarious experience, emotional state, and perceived knowledge indirectly influence self-rated health through self-efficacy. This study contributes to the understanding of the intricate cognitive mechanisms involved in individuals’ subjective health assessment. Furthermore, for professionals who design health messages and interventions and for health policymakers, our findings can be informative to improve self-rated health through self-efficacy and its associated factors of self-health management.