A Level Psychology (Specialist options) chapter 3: Health Psychology MCQs with answers

By Team Megalecture · Updated 4 Nov 2026

171 exam-style questions on Health Psychology, each with the answer and a short explanation. Ten of them are below to try. The chapter test draws ten fresh questions each time and is marked the moment you finish, with your score by topic.

171 questions · 15 topics · 10 per test

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What chapter 3 covers

Ten Health Psychology questions with answers

Try each one, then open the answer. These ten stay the same; the test draws new ones every time.

1. In a study in the style of Weinstein (1980), students rate their own chances of various events compared with other students. What would be the typical finding?

  1. A
    students rate negative events as more likely for themselves than for the average student, and positive events as less likely
  2. B
    students rate their own chances of negative events as lower than average, and of positive events as higher
  3. C
    students rate their chances of both positive and negative events as identical to those of others
  4. D
    students rate positive events as less likely for themselves, and negative events as less likely
Show answer

Answer: B. Because not everyone can be below average, this shows unrealistic optimism, a bias in judging personal risk.

2. In acupuncture, the practitioner

  1. A
    inserts thin needles into specific points of the body
  2. B
    delivers mild electrical pulses through pads on the skin
  3. C
    injects a strong opioid painkiller
  4. D
    uses a mirror to show the intact limb
Show answer

Answer: A. Acupuncture uses needles at particular points, and one suggestion is that it triggers the release of endorphins. Evidence for its effect is mixed.

3. Holmes and Rahe's Social Readjustment Rating Scale ranks events by

  1. A
    life change units, which are added up to predict the risk of illness
  2. B
    the number of minor daily hassles which a person experiences in a week
  3. C
    the person's Type A or Type B personality, as shown by a questionnaire
  4. D
    only the negative events which have happened in a person's life recently
Show answer

Answer: A. Each life event is given a score reflecting the amount of readjustment it needs. The higher the total in a year, the greater the risk of illness.

4. Which measure gives the most direct evidence that a drug has entered a patient's body?

  1. A
    counting the tablets which are left in the container at each visit
  2. B
    asking the patient's family to report how often she takes the medicine
  3. C
    measuring the drug or its by-products in a blood or urine sample
  4. D
    asking the patient to keep a diary of the doses that she takes
Show answer

Answer: C. Biological measures test for the drug or its metabolites, which shows that it has been taken, though not that it has been taken regularly.

5. Explaining heart disease in a stressed worker entirely as the effect of raised cortisol on his arteries is a

  1. A
    a reductionist explanation, because it ignores behaviour and personality
  2. B
    a holistic explanation, because it includes a biological process as well
  3. C
    a free-will explanation, because it takes his own choices into account
  4. D
    an idiographic explanation, because it uses data from many participants
Show answer

Answer: A. Reductionism explains behaviour or illness by a single biological mechanism, while holism takes account of psychological and social factors as well.

6. Testing a community campaign across a whole neighbourhood, and comparing immunisation rates before and after, is an example of

  1. A
    an experiment carried out in the field
  2. B
    a case study of one child
  3. C
    an unstructured interview
  4. D
    a correlation between two questionnaire scores
Show answer

Answer: A. The researchers manipulate the intervention and measure the effect. In a natural setting this is a field experiment.

7. A man with diabetes skips insulin injections because he believes that his condition is mild and will not affect his health. Which component of the health belief model explains this?

  1. A
    low perceived severity
  2. B
    high perceived barriers
  3. C
    high perceived susceptibility
  4. D
    a strong cue to action
Show answer

Answer: A. Perceived severity is how serious the person believes the condition and its consequences to be. He thinks the condition is not serious.

8. A researcher asks parents to report by questionnaire how many of their children's scheduled vaccines have been given. Which is the main threat to validity?

  1. A
    parents may want to look responsible, so may overstate how many were given
  2. B
    parents are unable to understand written questions about any health topic
  3. C
    questionnaires can measure only what happens in a clinic, never at home
  4. D
    a questionnaire cannot be given to parents whose children are under five
Show answer

Answer: A. Parents' self-reports may be inflated by social desirability, so clinic immunisation records give a more valid measure. The other options are false statements about questionnaires.

9. In Janis and Feshbach's (1953) study of dental hygiene, students heard a talk with a strong, moderate or minimal fear appeal. Which appeal produced the greatest change in behaviour?

  1. A
    the strong fear appeal
  2. B
    the minimal fear appeal
  3. C
    the moderate fear appeal
  4. D
    all three had the same effect
Show answer

Answer: B. A high level of fear caused anxiety and was more likely to be ignored or avoided, so a minimal appeal was the most effective.

10. Bridge et al. relied on the women's own reports of mood. Which is the main risk to validity?

  1. A
    the women could not complete the questionnaires because of their illness and treatment
  2. B
    the women knew they were being treated, so may have reported feeling better
  3. C
    the mood questionnaires were objective, so answers could not be affected by bias
  4. D
    the control group had also received the therapy, so no comparison was possible
Show answer

Answer: B. Demand characteristics and expectation can affect self-report, so an objective measure such as cortisol would add to the evidence.

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Ways to practise this chapter

Health Psychology: questions students ask

How many Health Psychology MCQs are there?

171, each with the answer and a short explanation, across 15 topics: The patient-practitioner relationship: interpersonal skills, The patient-practitioner relationship: diagnosis and style, The patient-practitioner relationship: misusing health services, Adherence to medical advice: types and reasons for non-adherence, Adherence to medical advice: measuring non-adherence, Adherence to medical advice: improving adherence, Pain: types and theories of pain, Pain: measuring pain, Pain: managing and controlling pain, Stress: sources of stress, Stress: measures of stress, Stress: managing stress, Health promotion: strategies for promoting health, Health promotion: schools and worksites, Health promotion: individual factors in changing health beliefs. Every chapter test draws ten of them, so you can take it many times.

Is the A Level Psychology (Specialist options) chapter 3 test free?

Yes. The test, the answers and the explanations are free and need no sign-up. Sign in only if you want your scores kept across devices.

How is the chapter test marked?

The moment you press Finish: your score, the right answer and an explanation for every question, and the ones you got wrong saved in My mistakes to retry.

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