Hesitation in Action: Behavioural Economic Drivers of Preventive Health Investments in Malaysia
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Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS)
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Preventive healthcare is a cornerstone of public health with aiming to reduce disease prevalence and improve quality of life through proactive measures such as vaccinations. Despite its established benefits, the adoption of preventive health behaviors remains inconsistent across individuals at the Malaysia. Cognitive biases particularly present bias, hyperbolic discounting, temporal discounting, probability weighting, and loss aversion play a pivotal role in influencing health related decision-making which often leading individuals to prioritise short-term gains over long-term benefits. This study examines how these cognitive biases impact preventive health behaviors within Malaysia’s socio-cultural and healthcare context to address critical gaps in understanding these behavioral barriers. Data was collected by using a well-validated questionnaire and distributed to the general public with following the inclusion and exclusion criteria at the Malaysia. Advanced statistical techniques such as Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), Paired T-test, Chi-Square test, and Cluster analysis were used to analyse the relationships between cognitive biases and preventive health behaviors.