The idea that people try to achieve a balance between perceived threat of illness and their capacity to cope with a health program is a key to:

A) the theory of reasoned action.
B) the theory of planned behaviour.
C) protection motivation theory.
D) coping appraisal.

Protection motivation theory suggests that people protect themselves based on their perceived severity of a threat, their perceived vulnerability to the threat, the perceived benefits of preventive action, and their perceived self-efficacy to undertake the preventive action. This theory specifically addresses the balance between the perceived threat of illness and the individual's belief in their ability to cope with or mitigate the threat through a health program.