The Intention to Give Up Smoking: Disease Versus Social Dimensions.

The article presents investigation by researchers among several Australian adults intention to give up smoking using an expanded protection motivation model. Most people in Australia know that smoking is harmful to health. Because so many people continue to smoke, researchers have formulated various health models to explain what leads people to practice good health behaviors. One such model is the protection motivation model which has its origins in expectancy value models of research and attitudes; it focuses on the cognitive mediational processes linking communication stimuli and behavior. In the case of smoking, the likelihood of smoking is decreased by belief in the severity of the diseases caused by smoking, belief in one's vulnerability to those diseases, belief that smoking cessation is an effective way to avoid the diseases, and belief that one can successfully stop smoking. On the other hand, the likelihood of cigarette smoking is increased by intrinsic rewards e.g., physical satisfaction, extrinsic rewards and the costs of an adaptive response. According to this model, the increased likelihood of an adaptive response not smoking depends primarily on four cognitive perceptions.