J. Richard Eiser

The effect of fear-arousing communications on cigarette smoking: an expectancy-value approach.

This paper describes a model, derived from subjective expected utility (SEU) theory, which attempts to explain the effects of a fear-arousing communication about smoking and lung cancer on smokers decisions to try to stop smoking. According to the model, the strength of the smokers intention to try to stop smoking will depend on three factors: (1) the utility of lung cancer; (2) the perceived reduction in the risk of getting lung cancer that follows from successfully stopping smoking (probability difference); and (3) the subjective probability of successfully stopping smoking, or confidence. The usefulness of this model vis-à-vis one based on the amount of fear aroused by the communication was investigated in two experimental studies conducted in the field in which smokers watched either a videotape about smoking or one on a different health topic. The smoking videotape influenced not only attitudes and beliefs measured immediately after exposure but also subsequent self-reports of behavior (whether or not the subject tried to stop smoking or to cut down in the 3-month period following exposure to the videotape). In accordance with predictions, the three variables specified by the model together affected intention to try to stop smoking, which in turn affected behavior. The effect of confidence on intention was relatively large. There was no evidence for the multiplicative combination of utilities and subjective probabilities predicted by a strict SEU model. Contrary to the predictions of the model, but consistent with previous research, the amount of fear aroused by the videotape had an independent effect on intention, suggesting that explanations of the effects of fear-arousing communications will have to incorporate both cognitive and emotional mediation processes.

Smoking, seat-belts, and beliefs about health.

Abstract Questionnaires concerned with cigarette smoking and seat-belt use were completed by 378 respondents who were taking part in a survey of audience reactions to 1 weeks television programmes. Controlling for sex, age, and social class, self-reported seat-belt use was lower among smokers than non-smokers (P

Smoking as a subjectively rational choice

Abstract In order to identify variables which might influence adult smokers to attempt to give up smoking, questionnaires were distributed to a final sample of 45 public employees who were cigarette smokers. These offered subjects the chance to apply for treatment at a nearby smokers clinic and also asked questions about their own smoking history, their perceived dependence on smoking, their perceptions of utilities associated with continuing smoking or attempting to stop smoking and succeeding or failing in the attempt. Of the 45 subjects, 18 chose to apply for treatment, and a discriminant analysis was performed to see if these could be distinguished from the 27 “non-choosers” in terms of their questionnaire responses. The most important predictor was the number of cigarettes smoked per day, with choosers on average smoking over 30 and non-choosers under 18 per day. In addition, choosers tended to be slightly older, and enjoy the activity of smoking less than non-choosers. Non-choosers, as compared with choosers, were relatively confident in their own ability to stop smoking without help, if they wanted to. Although subjects as a whole tended to rate the overall consequences of continuing to smoke as worse than the overall consequences of successfully stopping, this was not an important predictor of which subjects chose to apply for treatment.

Consonant and "dissonant" smokers and the self-attribution of addiction.

Abstract In a study concerned with the relationship between smokers wish to give up smoking and their perceived ability to do so, 115 smokers completed a short postal questionnaire. This asked how much they smoked, whether they would find it difficult to give up, would like to and had ever or recently tried to do so. They were also asked if they regarded themselves as addicted, obtained “real pleasure” from cigarettes, and were frightened about the risk to their health. Discriminant analyses showed that being frightened about health risks was the most important predictor of both wanting and having recently tried to stop, but was unrelated to the claimed success of any such attempt. Those who saw themselves as more addicted saw giving up as more difficult and smoking as more pleasurable. Those who had recently failed in an attempt at reduction or cessation also saw themselves as more addicted, as did “dissonant” smokers (who said that they would like to give up if they could do so easily). It is argued that the self-attribution of addiction provides smokers both with an explanation for previous failures at cessation, and a subjectively valid justification for continuing to smoke even when the risks to health are acknowledged.

“Hooked” or “sick”: Addicts' perceptions of their addiction

Abstract In a study concerned with addicts perceptions of their own dependence on drugs, 40 outpatients (30 male, 10 female) attending a London drug dependence clinic were individually administered a 15-item attitude questionnaire and an abbreviated (10-item) measure of locus of control. Subjects own agreements with most of the 15 items correlated highly with their estimates of the responses of other drug clinic patients to these items, but showed little relation to locus of control. A principal components analysis conducted on these ratings revealed two factors which together accounted for 31.5% of the variance. Factor 1, labelled as “Hooked” loaded most heavily on items reflecting a perceived inability to give up drugs. Factor 2, labelled as “Sick”, reflected a perception of one addiction as a sickness which doctors could cure, and an acknowledgement of personal problems generally. The 14 subjects whose preferred drug was heroin did not differ, on average, from the remaining 26 in terms of their scores on Factor 1, but obtained significantly lower scores than the others on the “Sick” factor. Implications for treatment, and for the concept of the “sick role” in relation dependence, are discussed.

Discrepancy, Dissonance, and the “Dissonant” Smoker

This paper reexamines, in the light of social psychological research, the theoretical assumptions made by McKennell and Thomas in their study of smoking habits and attitudes in Britain. One assumption made by them is that antismoking messages which are very discrepant from the opinions held by smokers should be avoided since they may produce attitude change in the opposite direction to that intended. It is argued that there is little empirical basis for this assumption, and that the discrepancy of a communication from the initial attitudes of a target audience is not necessarily the most important determinant of its effectiveness. McKennell and Thomas also distinguish consonant from dissonant smokers--the latter being those who say that they would like to give up smoking if they could do so easily. It is argued that the term dissonant is a misnomer when applied to smokers who see themselves as unable to choose not to smoke. Practical and theoretical implications are discuseed.

Drug attitudes and discrimination between drugs among a group of English schoolchildren

This study investigates the attitudes of a group of 185 London schoolchildren towards a number of legal and illegal drugs, and examines the ways in which they discriminate between these drugs. Heroin and LSD were seen as the most dangerous drugs, and alcohol and cigarettes as the safest. Subjects who had a negative attitude towards drugs in general regarded cannabis, amphetamines, alcohol and tobacco as more dangerous than subjects with a neutral or pro-drug attitude. There was also a sex difference: boys claimed to know more about drugs, were more likely to know a cannabis user and to have been really drunk than the girls. The implications of these results for drug and alcohol education programmes are discussed.