Smoker networks and the
"typical smoker": A prospective analysis of smoking cessation
Frederick X. Gibbons & Tami
J. Eggleston
(1996) Health Psychology,
15, 1-9.
Perceptions of the typical smoker
(i.e., prototype) were assessed in a sample of 174 adult smokers when they
first joined a cessation clinic and were used to predict smoking status at
6-month follow-up. As predicted, consistent with a prototype-based model of
health risk behavior (F. X. Gibbons & M. Gerrard, 1995, in press), smokers
with more favorable perceptions were more likely to have relapsed at follow-up.
Also as predicted, this prospective effect was moderated by smokers’ social
networks: Prototypes did not predict status among those who had a lot of
friends and family members who smoked, suggesting that these other smokers were
inhibiting smokers’ attempts to distance themselves psychologically from the
prototype. Implications of the results for interventions that use prototypes to
discourage smoking are discussed.