Smoking Behavior--Influenced By What Others Think

Main Category: Smoking / Quit Smoking
Also Included In: Psychology / Psychiatry
Article Date: 27 Oct 2008 - 10:00 PDT

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A growing amount of research is finding that smoke-free air laws help smokers quit or reduce the amount that they smoke. Rather than changing smokers' own attitudes about smoking, the influence of the policies, particularly the strong ones, might lie more in changing smokers' perceptions of other people's attitudes about smoking -- changing the perceived social norms, according to an Indiana University study involving smoke-free air laws in four Texas communities.

"Everyone knows it's unhealthy to smoke," said Jon Macy, the study's lead researcher. "Our study suggests that the success of strong smoke-free air policies may be more about changing the social acceptability of smoking."

The IU study used a telephone survey of 407 adults to compare perceived norms about smoking between adults living in two cities with strong smoke-free air laws and adults living in two cities with weak smoke-free air laws. Those who lived in cities with a strong smoke-free air law perceived a lower prevalence of smoking in their city, were less likely to report that other people in their city believed smoking was acceptable, and were more likely to report that people in their city believed that smokers should take measures to not smoke. Macy said that while researchers are aware that smoke-free air policies, which are designed primarily to protect the public from the harm of secondhand tobacco smoke, also influence smoking behavior, the mechanism or cause has not been nailed down.

This study offers one possible explanation. Macy said insights provided by this study could help with public communication messages that accompany smoke-free air policies. The messages, for example, could tap into the impact societal norms have on smoking behavior.

Rachel Gross, with the Center for Applied Behavioral and Evaluation Research at the Academy for Educational Development, will discuss the findings on Monday, Oct. 27, at 4:30 p.m. The study was supported by the National Cancer Institute. Co-authors include Macy, Gross, Susan E. Middestadt, Department of Applied Health Science in IU's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation; Nathan Stupiansky, Department of Applied Health Science in IU's School of HPER; and Jesse Gelwicks, Center for Applied Behavioral and Evaluation Research at the Academy for Educational Development.

American Public Health Association Meeting

Source
Indiana University