Journal of Behavioral Medicine, Vol. 23, No. 2, 2000 Worldview and Health Promoting Behavior: A Causal Model Ashraf Kagee 1,3 and David N. Dixon 2 Accepted for publication: October 17, 1999 The present study investigated the manner in which Pepper’s (1942) worldview theory relates to health promoting behavior. A sample of 259 subjects com- pleted a battery of inventories measuring worldview, health promoting behav- ior (HPB), social class, and sex. The data were analyzed by means of structural equation modeling using the statistical program for the social sciences (SPSS) and the analysis of moment and structure (AMOS) computer programs. The results support the idea that a modest relationship exists between worldview and HPB, with organismic thinkers more likely than mechanistic thinkers to engage in HPB. There was also a slight indirect effect of sex on worldview and HPB, with women more likely to endorse an organismic worldview and therefore more likely to engage in HPB than men. No relationship was found between socioeconomic status and HPB. KEY WORDS: worldview; health promotion; sex; SES. INTRODUCTION Recent literature in health psychology and behavioral medicine has ad- dressed the concept of worldview in relation to the way in which health and disease are conceptualized (e.g., Johnson et al., 1988; Lyddon, 1989; Nicholas & Gobble, 1991). Nicholas and Gobble (1991, p. 31) define worldview in the 1 Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104. 2 Department of Counseling Psychology, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. 3 To whom correspondence should be addressed. 163 0892-7553/00/0400-0163$18.00/0 C  2000 Plenum Publishing Corporation