Influencer Model

In the “Three Myths of Change Behavior,” Jen Cross explains how education and information is not enough to influence change behavior (Myth1). People will know the facts but unless the information is tangible, it is not considered effective. She explained by making the information more tangible to the audience makes them think about all possible outcomes with the change behavior.

Cross’s myth 2 states you need to change a person’s attitude to change their behavior. This myth resonated with me the most because attitude has an impact on everything we do. Attitudes are often the result of experience or upbringing, and they can have a powerful influence over behavior. However, while attitudes are enduring, they can always change. For example, people taking parenting or anger management classes may change their behavior for a particular reason, such as court related. However, their attitude may or may not change depending on the modeled lesson described in the class.

Cross’s myth 3 states people know what motivates them. So, I ask myself what motivates me? Is it money? Is it power? Is it freedom? Or is it love? And I must say it’s a little bit of all these things combined into one. People are motivated by different things, and almost always, there are multiple and conflicting motivations within all of us which causes influential change.

Cross, J. (2013, March 20). Three myths of behavior change - what you think you know that you don't: Jeni Cross at TEDxCSU. YouTube. Retrieved June 15, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5d8GW6GdR0