Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change

Stages of Change

The transtheoretical model, sometimes referred to as the “stages of change” model, is best known for describing the transition process that individuals undergo when engaging in behavioral change. Through a series of questions in a standard protocol, researchers develop segments that correspond to the various stages in the change process. In the precontemplation stage, individuals do not recognize a need to change and often lack awareness of the problem or issue that may be adversely affecting them. Occasionally, individuals in this initial stage are aware of the problem but are unwilling to discuss it. Denial, rationalization, and fear of admitting failure are common characteristics of individuals in this stage.

In the next stage, contemplation, individuals recognize the existence of a problem, but are often waiting for a “magic moment” or simply engaging in wishful thinking. In this stage, which can last for days or years, individuals often think, discuss, and seek information about the problem and its various remedies.

At a certain point, contemplators become increasingly confident about the prospects of change and begin to focus their information search on the best course of action to take. In what is called a preparation stage, individuals may set a timetable for change, start turning away from old behaviors, and prepare for the inevitable adjustment that awaits once they commit to change.

The briefest stage, ironically, is the actual action stage, which occurs when an individual actually modifies her or his life by sacrificing old ways of thinking and behaving in favor of new ones.

Once the individual has actually attempted change, one of two things can occur (and often both do). First, the individual may engage in maintenance of the new behavior, which involves both an internal commitment as well as a resistance to external pressures in the form of peers and family members and unexpected situations that tend to trigger old behaviors. Alternatively, the individual may engage in recycling and relapse into those old behaviors. Sometimes this happens from the inherent difficulty in the proposed change, or perhaps from the realization that the costs of change (time, money, friends, and prestige) are simply too high.

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