title: Smokers' expectancies for smoking versus nicotine.
abstract: This study compared smokers' expectancies for the full act of smoking with those for nicotine per se by means of a word association task. Smokers (N = 201) were randomized to receive instructions to complete either "Smoking makes one ____." or "Nicotine makes one ____." with as many words as possible within 30 s. Results indicated that smokers held similar expectancies for smoking and nicotine; however, negative consequences (e.g., health risks) were more associated with smoking than with nicotine, and addiction expectancies were more associated with nicotine than with smoking. These findings suggest that smokers have a more realistic conceptualization of nicotine's role in smoking than had been indicated from earlier surveys. These findings have important implications for both nicotine-based and behavioral interventions, as well as for experimental designs that rely upon the perceived manipulation of nicotine content.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco 94143, USA. phendricks@lppi.ucsf.edu
authors.forename: Peter S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Hendricks
authors.forename: Thomas H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Brandon
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009538:Nicotine; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology*
chemical_list: D009538:Nicotine