Avoiding poor health or approaching good health: Does it matter? Conceptualization, measurement and consequences of health regulatory focus

This research describes the development of the Health Regulatory Focus Scale (HRFS), which was designed to capture individual tendency to use avoidance or approach strategies during health goal pursuit. Scale development procedures confirmed the structure of the scale and validated its psychometric properties. We then investigate its relationship with different health outcomes. This health specific measure predicted health beliefs, health behaviors and health subjective state.