Beliefs of smokers and never smokers about the motives that underlie tobacco smoking

The purpose of this investigation was to study beliefs about the reasons or motives that people have for the smoking of tobacco products. Specifically, the respondents were asked to indicate what they felt were the benefits of smoking to smokers in general, and not just to refer to their own experience if they currently were or had previously been smokers. The purpose was not to establish the actual motivational basis of smoking behavior in a sample of users. Rather the intent derived from a research program whose general goal is the examination of a variety of aspects of the social support system that operates to maintain and encourage the use of tobacco in our society (Shor & Williams, 1978b; Williams & Shor, 1979). In that context, then, this investigation was designed to explicate the beliefs about the benefits of smoking held by persons who currently smoke and to compare their responses with those of persons who have-with the possible exception of very occasional experimentation-never smoked. Knowledge regarding what people believe to be the benefits of smoking to smokers is likely to have utility from a variety of perspectives. The study will identify consistencies and contrasts in the beliefs of smokers and of persons who have to rely on indirect sources of information about smoking including culturally shared beliefs. In the absence of actual experience, indirectly generated beliefs are likely to influence the probability that individuals will begin to smoke. Given the role that expectations may play in structuring reactions to events, beliefs may also affect the level of satisfaction experienced by new smokers. Beliefs about benefits may also have an impact on normative evaluations and social attributions that people make regarding tobacco use. These, in turn, may function as determinants of both private and social behavior, and may influence social policy. In addition, such knowledge may serve as a background and framework of comparison for research dealing with the actual motivational factors that support tobacco use. Finally, an examination of the overall level as well as the differences between the two groups being studied has potential for furthering our understanding of how social and personal factors influence the development of these beliefs. Although a substantial number of investigations and reviews of research on smoking behavior have dealt with motivational factors (e.g., Barry, 1960; Borgatta & Evans, 1968; Dicken & Bryson, 1978; Dunn, 1973; Eysenck, 1965; Fuller, 1973; Hunt, 1970; Jarvik, Cullen, Gritz, Vogt, & West, 1977; Mausner & Platt, 1971; Office on Smoking and Health, 1979; Zagona, 1966) only four programs of research have attempted a systematic and comprehensive elucidation of motives. This work by Horn and his associates (Horn, 1968; Horn & Waingrow, 1966; Ikard, Green, & Horn, 1969; also see Tomkins, 1966, 1968), McKennell and his associates (McKennell, 1968, 1970, 1973; McKennell & Bynner, 1969; McKennell & Thomas, 1967; also see Frith, 1971) Russell and his associates (Russell, 1971a, 197lb; Russell, Peto, & Patel, 1974), and Best and Hakstian (1978) provides a useful foundation for the present research effort. All of these approaches have involved the development of self-report questionnaires as the basis for gathering information from current smokers about their personal motives for smoking or of situations in which they feel the need to smoke. The primary method of analysis has been factor analytic and has