Objective This study determined the role of social–cognitive and affective factors in promoting testicular self‐examination. Methods Male participants (N = 115) rated their perceptions of testicular cancer, social–cognitive variables (attitude, subjective norm, and perceived control), and their emotions towards testicular cancer (anxiety and shame) and testicular self‐examination (anticipated regret and relief). Participants also stated whether or not they had performed a testicular self‐examination within the last month. Results Perceived control and anticipated relief positively predicted testicular self‐examination within the last month. Both these factors also positively predicted the intention to self‐examine in the future. Intention was also positively predicted by attitude and negatively predicted by shame. Conclusions These results highlight the importance of social–cognitive and emotional factors in promoting health screening. Targeting these factors might improve the effectiveness of testicular self‐examination interventions. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.