Table 1 COM-B Model

Capability

The individual’s psychological and physical capacity to engage in the activity concerned.

Psychological

The capacity to engage in the necessary thought processes - comprehension, reasoning et al.

Physical

Physical capacity to engage in the activity concerned. Includes having the necessary skills.

Motivation

All brain processes that energise and direct behaviour, not just goals and conscious decision-making.

Reflective

Reflective processes that involve evaluations and plans.

Automatic

Automatic processes that involve emotions, impulses that arise from associative learning, and/or innate dispositions.

Opportunity

All the factors that lie outside the individual that make the behaviour possible or prompt it.

Social

Social opportunity afforded by the cultural milieu that dictates the way that we think about things (e.g. the words and concepts that make up our language).

Physical

Physical opportunity afforded by the environment.