Smoking in Movies, Implicit Associations of Smoking with the Self, and Intentions to Smoke

We examined whether identifying with a film character who smokes increases implicit associations of the self with smoking. Undergraduate men were randomly assigned to view film clips in which the male protagonist either smoked or did not smoke. We measured subsequent levels of self-smoking associati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychological science 2007-07, Vol.18 (7), p.559-563
Main Authors: Cin, Sonya Dal, Gibson, Bryan, Zanna, Mark P., Shumate, Roberta, Fong, Geoffrey T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Addiction
Adult
Association
Cigarette smoking
Cigarettes
Cinema
Cognition - physiology
Cognitive psychology
College students
Ego
Film clips
Gender
Humans
Identification (Psychology)
Identity
Intention
Male
Marijuana use
Men
Motion Pictures
Movies
Narratives
Nonsmokers
Predictive Value of Tests
Protagonists
Reaction time
Reaction Time - physiology
Research Reports
Self Concept
Self Disclosure
Smoker-Nonsmoker interactions
Smoking
Smoking - psychology
Smoking cessation
Social psychology
Students - psychology
Surveys and Questionnaires
Task Performance and Analysis
Tobacco smoking
U.S.A
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Summary:We examined whether identifying with a film character who smokes increases implicit associations of the self with smoking. Undergraduate men were randomly assigned to view film clips in which the male protagonist either smoked or did not smoke. We measured subsequent levels of self-smoking associations using a reaction time task, as well as self-reported beliefs about smoking and smokers. Greater identification with the smoking protagonist predicted stronger implicit associations between the self and smoking (for both smokers and nonsmokers) and increased intention to smoke (among the smokers). Stronger implicit self-smoking associations uniquely predicted increases in smokers' intentions to smoke, over and above the effects of explicit beliefs about smoking. The results provide evidence that exposure to smoking in movies is causally related to changes in smoking-related thoughts, that identification with protagonists is an important feature of narrative influence, and that implicit measures may be useful in predicting deliberative behavior.
ISSN:0956-7976
1467-9280
DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01939.x