The social hazards of smoking in academic contexts: students' and teachers' attitudes about student smokers.

Dear Editor:

Despite its well-publicized health risks and rising cost, tobacco smoking among adolescents and young adults continues to be a public menace (Rigotti, Lee, & Wechsler, 2000; TTURC, 2001). Despite recent fluctuations in smoking rates, Center for Disease Control analysis of data from the National Youth risk Behavioral Survey indicated that a majority (58.4%) of respondents in 2003 acknowledged lifetime cigarette use (CDC, 2003). Although adolescents and young adults initiate smoking for various reasons, many young people seem to continue to believe that smoking will enhance their image with peers.

Although public smoking may be intended to create a favorable impression on others, a wealth of studies demonstrate that this strategy is likely to backfire. Smokers are perceived more negatively on a variety of dimensions than are their nonsmoking counterparts (Bleda & Sandman, 1977; Dermer & Jacobsen, 1986; Brosh, Austin, & Chambliss, 2003; Outten, Rowles, & Chambliss, 2003; Srebro, Hodges, Authier, & Chambliss, 1999).

Research conducted in academic settings has indicated that both high school and college students, and high school and college faculty members (including smokers and nonsmokers alike), hold a more negative view of smokers than nonsmokers (Brosh, et al., 2003; Outten, et al., 2003). Assessments of hypothetical male and female current smokers, a former smoker, and a nonsmoker revealed that smokers were viewed as less intelligent, creative, independent, conscientious, ambitious, and considerate, as having poorer judgment, and as more hostile than their nonsmoking counterparts. Respondents who currently smoke rated hypothetical smokers somewhat less negatively than respondents who do not smoke. Respondents' ratings of former smokers were less negative than current smokers, but more negative than nonsmokers. No significant differences were found between the overall ratings of the female and male target smokers. High school students were more likely than college students to report believing that teachers discriminate against students who smoke.

Our study extended this work by comparing the ratings of 320 students and 100 teachers from high school, college, and professional (law and medicine) school settings. By measuring both the stigma associated with students' smoking and the residual stigma associated with being a former smoker, this study also assessed the extent to which cessation ameliorates negative attitudes (Goldstein, 1991; Brosh, Austin, & Chambliss, 2003).

The majority of the three student samples were nonsmokers; 18.6% of these high school students, 28% of these college students, and 17.6% of the professional school students surveyed engaged in smoking behavior classified as habitual and regular. Similarly, the majority of the three faculty samples were nonsmokers; 10.5% of these high school faculty, 7.5% of these college faculty, and 16.6% of the professional school faculty surveyed engaged in smoking behavior classified as habitual and regular.

The subjects rated each of three hypothetical situations - smoker, nonsmoker, and former smoker - on six 5-point Likert-format items (1=extremely low, 2=somewhat low, 3=neutral, 4=somewhat high, 5=extremely high). They described their impression of an average student in each of these three categories along dimensions of intelligence, artistic creativity, independence, conscientiousness, ambition, and hostility. The order of presentation of the hypothetical cases was counterbalanced.

Directionally adjusted items were totaled for each participant to create a summary character rating for each of the three student cases (nonsmoker, former smoker, and current smoker). In order to assess the stigma associated with smoking, for each respondent the summary rating of the smoker was subtracted from that of the nonsmoker, and a constant of 10 was added to avoid negative numbers in subsequent analyses. Similarly, the residual stigma associated with being a former smoker was measured by subtracting the summary score for the former smoker from the nonsmoker score (a constant of 10 was added to these scores as well). This provided comparative ratings of hypothetical student smokers (stigma) and former smokers (residual stigma) relative to the ratings of nonsmoking controls.

Oneway ANOVA comparing the six groups revealed significant differences in stigma scores (F = 11.90, df= 5/402, p < .001). Post hoc t-tests showed high school faculty reported greater stigma than both other faculty groups. Post hoc t-tests also showed that all student groups reported greater stigma than the faculty groups.

Oneway ANOVA on the three student groups showed significant differences in residual stigma scores (F = 12.35, df= 2/386, p < .001). High school students reported the greatest residual stigma and college students the least. Oneway ANOVA on the three faculty groups revealed no significant difference in residual stigma scores.

In order to assess how perceptions of individual personality characteristics differed between students and faculty, these groups were separated before within-subject t-tests were performed on the individual item ratings of smokers and nonsmokers. Table I summarizes the results of these analyses for the student respondents. Significant differences in ratings of smokers and nonsmokers emerged on every individual dimension assessed. In every case students who smoke were evaluated less favorably than their nonsmoking peers.

Within-subject t-tests comparing faculty members' ratings of students who smoke and those who do not revealed significant differences on every dimension but artistic creativity (Table 2).

Consistent with previous research, these findings show that perceptions of student smokers are more negative than those of non-smoker students, among both students and teachers at the high school, college, and professional school levels. College and professional school teachers perceived student smokers less negatively than the other groups. Smoking cessation appears to restore a student's image in the eyes of faculty members, especially at the college and professional school levels. Among their peers, smoking cessation ameliorates the stigma associated with smoking, although substantial residual stigma seems to persist among high school students.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

Generational factors may have accounted for why students evaluated smokers more negatively than instructors. Members of the student cohort were born after a consensus about the harmful effects of cigarette smoking had emerged. It seems likely that their lifelong exposure to negative messages about smoking contributed to their more disparaging attitudes.

These findings have several implications for substance use education programs. In trying to deter cigarette smoking, it may be helpful to publicize its social hazards more zealously. Informing students about their peers' and teachers' negative reactions to those who smoke may improve students' decision making about this form of substance use. The finding that smoking cessation effectively reverses discrimination might also be fruitfully incorporated into treatment programs. These results may assist those wishing to quit in maintaining their motivation to face the formidable challenges involved in cessation.

References

Brosh, J., Austin, M., & Chambliss, C. (2003). High school and college students' perceptions of current smokers, former smokers, and nonsmokers. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 97, 1200-1202.

Bleda, R R., & Sandman, P. H. (1977) In smoke's way: Socioemotional reactions to another's smoking. Journal of Applied Psychology, 52, 452-458.

CDC (2003).Tobacco use among middle and high school students. United States, 2003.

Dermer, M. L., & Jacobsen, E. (1986). Some potential negative consequences of cigarette smoking: Marketing research in reverse. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 16, 702-725.

Goldstein, J. (1991). The stigmatization of smokers: An empirical investigation. Journal of Drug Education, 21, 167-182.

Outten, R., Rowles, R, & Chambliss, C. (2003). Faculty members' attitudes toward students who smoke: The last permitted type of discrimination. (Resources in Education, ERIC/CASS, CG032546)

Rigotti, N. A., Lee, J. E., & Wechsler, H. (2000). US college students' use of tobacco products: The results of a national survey. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 284, 699.

Srebro, K. A., Hodges, J. E., Authier, C., & Chambliss, C. A. (1999). Views of college student smoking: A comparison of smokers and nonsmokers. (Resources in Education, ERIC/CASS, ED432705)

Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center. (2001). Vectors of vulnerability in teen and young adult smoking. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on June 22, 2002 at http://www.tturc.uci.edu/ tturc/ResearchProjects/ResearchProjects.html.

Catherine Chambliss, Mary Shull, Kathleen Baker, Christina Burton, Michael Nesbit, Chris Weir, Fallon Wilson, Chris Katona, and Joanne Brosh Department of Psychology, Ursinus College

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Catherine Chambliss, [e-mail]

Table 1
Ratings of Personality Characteristics of Student Smokers and
Nonsmokers from High School, College, and Professional
School Students (1392)

                   Smoker      Nonsmoker

                 M     SD     M      SD    t       df    p <

Intelligence    2.61   .76   3.89   .88    20.03   391   .001
Independence    2.92   .90   3.70   .93    10.37   324   .001
Conscientious   2.47   .87   3.85   .90    17.77   325   .001
Ambition        2.55   .77   3.90   .92    18.35   326   .001
Artistic
  creativity    2.90   .73   3.40   .80    7.82    325   .001
Hostility       3.13   .72   2.87   1.07   3.27    326   .01

Table 2
Ratings of Personality Characteristics of Student Smokers and
Nonsmokers from High School, College, and Professional
School Faculty Members (N=95)

                   Smoker      Nonsmoker

                 M     SD     M     SD     t       df    p <

Intelligence    2.83   .71   3.39   .96    3.98    93    .001
Independence    2.82   .85   3.37   .88    3.93    93    .001
Conscientious   2.67   .74   3.46   .90    5.43    93    .001
Ambition        2.77   .63   3.29   .82    4.17    92    .001
Artistic
  creativity    3.03   .58   3.11   .54    1.00    93    ns
Hostility       3.07   .78   2.77   .88    2.43    94    .05