title: Variation in BAS-BIS profiles across categories of cigarette use.
abstract: Cigarette smoking is a major health concern, especially among college students. Research suggests a number of individual difference variables may be useful for identifying people at risk of becoming smokers and their likelihood of successfully quitting. The current study focuses on individual differences relating to Behavioral Inhibition System sensitivity (BIS) and the fun seeking, reward responsiveness, and drive aspects of Behavioral Approach System sensitivity (BAS). The former relates to mitigation of potential threat, whereas the latter three relate to different motivations for approach. Noting that existing literature suggests the considerations influencing whether a person experiments with cigarettes differ from those influencing who becomes a habitual smoker which in turn differ from those influencing whether a person quits smoking, we hypothesized that never smokers, experimenters, smokers, and former smokers would differ from each other on BIS, fun seeking, reward responsiveness, and drive in predictable ways. Moreover, we predicted these groups would differ from each other in terms of member profiles across these four variables. We assessed these predictions in a sample of college students from geographically diverse institutions within the United States (N=1840). The profile for never smokers was characterized by high BIS and low fun seeking, that of experimenters by moderately high BIS, high fun seeking, and moderate reward responsiveness, and that of former smokers by moderate BIS, high fun seeking, high reward responsiveness, and high drive. Contrary to expectations, current smokers were low on all four of these characteristics.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at San Antonio, Department of Psychology, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA. Electronic address: Michael.baumann@Utsa.edu.
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Baumann
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at San Antonio, Department of Psychology, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Oviatt
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at San Antonio, Department of Psychology, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA.
authors.forename: Raymond T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Garza
authors.affiliation: University of California at Riverside, Department of Psychology, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
authors.forename: Ana G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Gonzalez-Blanks
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at San Antonio, Department of Psychology, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA.
authors.forename: Stella G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.affiliation: Barry University, Division of Nursing, 11300 N.E. 2nd Avenue, Miami Shores, FL 33161, USA.
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Alexander-Delpech
authors.affiliation: Barry University, Division of Nursing, 11300 N.E. 2nd Avenue, Miami Shores, FL 33161, USA.
authors.forename: Ferrona A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Beason
authors.affiliation: Lehman College, Department of Biological Sciences, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468, USA.
authors.forename: Vanya I
authors.initials: VI
authors.lastname: Petrova
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at San Antonio, Department of Psychology, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA.
authors.forename: Willie J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Hale
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D010551:Personality; D012201:Reward; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D062789:Tobacco Products; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: BIS/BAS; Cigarette use; College students; Personality profile