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Health and illness are socially and historically located phenomena. As such, psychologists have much to gain by detailed historical research (historical analysis) on the development of health beliefs and practices. They can work closely with medical or health historians to explore the evolution of scientific and popular beliefs about health and illness or they can work independently (see Chapter 6). An example is the work of Herzlich and Pierret (1987). Their work involved the detailed analysis of a variety of textual sources such as scientific medical writings, but also popular autobiographical and fictional accounts of the experience of illness. They noted the particular value of literary works because of their important contribution to shaping public discourse. Such textual analysis needs to be guided by an understanding of the political and philosophical ideas of the period.

Figure 7.2 Hierarchy of evidence

Source: Public domain

Health psychologists need also to be reflexive about the history of their own discipline. It arose at a particular historical period sometimes described as late modernity. Initially it was seen as providing a complement to the excessive physical focus of biomedicine. Now some see it as part of the broader lifestyle movement.

There are different approaches to the writing of history. There are those who can be broadly characterized as descriptive and who often provide a list of the growth of the discipline in laudatory terms (e.g., Stone et al., 1987). Conversely, there are those who adopt a more critical approach and attempt to dissect the underlying reasons for the development of the discipline. Within health psychology, this latter approach is still in its early stages (e.g., Stam, 2014).