Chapter 7

Dorothy Johnsons Behavioral

System Model and Its Applications
Developed by Bonnie Pope, and S. Gordon (2010)
Updated by D. Gullett (2014)

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On completion of this chapter, students will be

able to:
1. Discuss paradigmatic origins of Johnsons Model
2. Discuss the five core principles of Dorothy Johnsons Behavioral
Systems Model.
3. Identify the eight subsystems of Dorothy Johnsons Behavioral
Systems Model and discuss their interrelationship.
4. Describe Johnsons definition of person, environment, health, and
nursing.
5. Discuss the role of the Behavioral Systems Model in nursing
practice, administration, research, and education.

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Introducing the Theorist Dorothy Johnson

Born August 21, 1919, in Savannah, Georgia
Served as faculty member
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
UCLA 19491978

Died in 1999

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Education
Earned Associates in Arts Degree from
Armstrong Junior College in Savannah, Georgia
in 1938
Earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree
from Vanderbilt University in 1942.
Earned a Master of Public Health degree from
Harvard in 1948

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Johnson Behavioral System Model (JBSM) Overview

Evolved from philosophical ideas, theory, and

research; her clinical background; and many
years of thought, discussions, and writing
Influences:
Florence Nightingale
Systems theory
Developmental theory (Piaget, Erikson, etc.)

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Five Core Principles

Wholeness and Order

Stabilization
Reorganization
Hierarchic Interaction
Dialectical Contradiction

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Wholeness and Order

Developmental analogy of wholeness and order
is continuity and identity.
Continuity and change can exist across the life
span.
Continuity is in the relationship of the parts
rather than in their individuality.
The whole of the human organism (system) is greater than
the sum of its parts (subsystems).

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Stabilization
Dynamic systems respond to contextual changes by either a
homeostatic or homeorhetic process.
Set point maintained by altering internal conditions to compensate
for changes in external conditions.
Nurses act as external regulators.
Monitor patient response, look for successful adaptation
to occur.

Nurses intervene to help patients restore behavioral system balance.

Intervention is not needed if behavioral system balance returns on
its own.

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Reorganization
Occurs when the behavioral system encounters new
experiences in the environment that cannot be balanced
by existing system mechanisms
Nurse acts to provide conditions or resources essential to
help the accommodation process:
May impose regulatory or control mechanisms to stimulate or
reinforce certain behaviors
E.g.) Venting the patient in respiratory failure

May attempt to repair structural components

E.g.) Wound care

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Hierarchic Interaction
Hierarchies, or a pattern of relying on particular
subsystems, lead to a degree of stability.
FITNE Interview: Dorothy Johnson

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Dialectical Contradiction
Motivational force for behavioral change
Drives/responses developed and modified over
time through maturation, experience, and
learning
Environmental domains that the person is
responding to include the biological,
psychological, cultural, familial, social, and
physical setting

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Dialectical Contradiction

(continued)

Faced with illness or the threat of illness, the person

needs to resolve (maintain behavioral system balance
of) a cascade of contradictions between goals related
to:
Physical status, social roles, and cognitive status.

Nurses interventions:
Focus on restoring behavioral system balance
Pursue homeostasis

Leading to a new level of development

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Johnsons Metaparadigm

Person=Client: a collection of behavioral subsystems that inter-relate to form the

behavioral system
Subsystems: divided into 8 subsystems
Achievement=mastery of self or environment
Affiliative=to relate to or belong; achieve intimacy
Aggressive/Protective= to protect self and/or others
Dependency= obtain approval, gain trust
Eliminative=expel biological wasters; express feelings, ideas verbally and non-verbally
Ingestive=take in needed resources to live; acquire knowledge
Restorative=relieve fatigue, achieve equilibrium
Sexual=to procreate; develop self-identity based on gender
Environment=set of all objects which affect the system if changed; internal/external
environment
Health=efficient and effective functioning of the system; behavioral stability present
Nursing and nursing therapeutics=a service complimentary to medicine and other
health professions, but which makes its own distinctive contribution to the health and wellbeing of people (Johnson, 1980, p.207)

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Each Subsystem
Is composed of at least four structural
components that interact in a specific pattern

Goal
Set
Choice
Action

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Goal
This is defined as the desired result or
consequence of the behavior.
The basis for the goal is a universal drive whose
existence can be supported by scientific
research.

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Behavioral Set
Is a predisposition to act in a certain way in a
given situation
Represents a relatively stable and habitual
behavioral pattern of responses to particular
drives or stimuli
Represents learned behavior and is influenced
by knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs

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Behavioral Set Components

Perseveration
Consistent tendency to react to certain stimuli with the
same pattern of behavior
E.g.) Catastrophizing; Optimistic

Preparation
Functions to establish priorities for attending or not
attending to various stimuli

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Choice
Refers to the individuals repertoire of alternative
behaviors in a situation that will best meet the
goal and attain the desired outcome.
The greater the behavioral repertoire of
alternative behaviors in a situation, the more
adaptable the individual.
Flexibility of response is the key

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Action
Observable action of the individual
Concern is with the efficiency and effectiveness of the
behavior in goal attainment.
Actions are observable responses to stimuli.

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The Johnson Model

Proposes
For behavior to be maintained, it must be
protected, nurtured, and stimulated.
Protection from noxious stimuli that threaten the
survival of the behavioral system
Nurturance, which provides adequate input to
sustain behavior
Stimulation to continue growth of the behavior and
counteracts stagnation

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The Johnson Model

(continued)

Deficiency in any or all of these functional

requirements
Threatens the behavioral system as a whole or the
effective functioning of the particular subsystem with
which it is directly involved.

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Health
Behavioral system balance or stability
Demonstrated by observed behavior that is
purposeful, orderly, and predictable.
Behavior maintained when it is efficient and
effective in managing the persons relationship
to the environment

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Environment
Consists of all elements that are not a part of the
individuals behavioral system but influence the
system and can serve as a source of sustenal
imperatives
Manipulated by the nurse to achieve health

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External Environment
May include people, objects, and phenomena
that can potentially permeate the boundary of
the behavioral system
External stimulus forms an
organized/meaningful pattern that elicits a
response from the individual

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Internal Environment
Internalized intervening variables:
Physiology, temperament, ego, age and related
developmental capacities, attitudes, and self-concept

General regulators
Variables that influence set, choice, and action

Key areas for nursing assessment

Helps the nurse customize the care

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Nursing and Nursing

Therapeutics
Nursing views patients as behavioral systems,
and medicine views patients as biological
systems.

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Specific Goal of Nursing Action Is

to restore, maintain, or attain behavioral
system balance and stability at the highest
possible level for the individual (Johnson,
1980, p 214)

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Diagnostic Classifications
Insufficiency:
Exists when a subsystem is not functioning or
developed to its fullest capacity due to inadequacy of
functional requirements

Discrepancy:
Exists when a behavior does not meet the intended
conceptual goal.

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Diagnostic Classifications
(continued)

Incompatibility:
Exists when the behaviors of two or more subsystems
in the same situation conflict with each other to the
detriment of the individual

Dominance:
Exists when the behavior of one subsystem is used
more than any other, regardless of the situation or to
the detriment of the other subsystems

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Nursing Therapeutics
Attempt to repair damaged structural units by
altering the individuals set and choice
Impose regulatory and control measures
Supply or help the client find his or her own
supplies of essential functional requirements

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The Nurse May Provide

Nurturance
Stimulation
Protection

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The Nurse-Client
Relationship
The nurse and the client negotiate the treatment
plan.

Courtesy of Nurselabs.com
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References
Johnson, D. E. (1980). The behavioral system model for nursing. In: J. P. Riehl & C. Roy (Eds.),
Conceptual models for nursing practice (2nd ed., pp. 207216). New York, NY: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.
Nurselabs.com. (n.d.). Concept map depicting Dorothy Johnsons Behavioral System Model.
Retrieved
from http://
nurseslabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Behavioral-System-Model-Conceptual-Framework.jpg

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