Smoking: Risk, Perception, and Policy / Edition 1

by Paul Slovic

Overview

This book presents a counter-view, based on a survey of several thousand young persons and adults, probing attitudes, beliefs, feelings, and perceptions of risk associated with smoking. The authors agree that young smokers give little or no thought to health risks or the problems of addiction. The survey data contradicts the model of informed, rational choice and underscores the need for aggressive policies to counter tobacco firms' marketing and promotional efforts and to restrict youth access to tobacco.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761923817
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	05/23/2001
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	392
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Dr. Slovic studies judgment and decision processes with an emphasis on decision making under conditions of risk. His work examines fundamental issues such as the influence of affect on judgments and decisions. He also studies the factors that underlie perceptions of risk and attempts to assess the importance of these perceptions for the management of risk in society. His most recent research examines psychological factors contributing to apathy toward genocide. He no longer does classroom teaching but does advise students in their research. For further information visit Dr. Slovic's website: www.decisionresearch.org

Table of Contents

About the Contributors
PART ONE: INTRODUCTION
1. The Risks of Active and Passive Smoking - J Samet
2. Profile of Smokers and Smoking - P Jamieson and D Romer
PART TWO: PERCEPTIONS OF RISKY ADOLESCENTS AND ADULTS
3. What Do Young People Think They Know About the Risks of Smoking? - P Jamieson and D Romer
4. The Role of Perceived Risk in Starting and Stopping Smoking - D Romer and P Jamieson
5. Smokers' Recognition of Their Vulnerability to Harm - P Slovic
6. Cigarette Smokers: Rational Actors or Rational Fools? - P Slovic
PART THREE: MEDIA INFLUENCE ON SMOKING
7. Advertising, Smoker Imagery, and the Diffusion of Smoking Behavior - D Romer and P Jamieson
PART FOUR: ADDICTION
8. The Nature of Nicotine Addiction - N Benowitz
9. A Visceral Account of Addiction - G Loewenstein
10. The Catch 22 of Smoking and Quitting - D Romer, P Jamieson, and R Kirkland Ahern
PART FIVE: LEGAL AND POLICY PERSPECTIVES
11. The Joint Failure of Economic Theory and Legal Regulation - J Hanson and D Kysar
12. Tobacco and Public Health Policy: A Youth-Centered Approach - R Bonnie
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

"This book is a must for everyone concerned about how to address the problem of tobacco use among young people. Virtually all new smokers are children. Many of them are in their early teens and one out of every three children who begin to smoke will die prematurely because of their use of tobacco. This book includes the most objective, thorough and authoritative research to date on the critical question about whether young people fully understand the consequences of their decision to smoke at the time they start and whether they are able to make rational decisions about this vitally important decision. It leaves the reader with no doubt about the value of efforts to better educate our young people and to empower them to resist the lure of tobacco marketing."

MATTHEW MYERS

" This important book reveals why the young start smoking and why, as adults, they regret having started. It is a great contribution to helping end a national epidemic."

CHERYL HEALTON

"This book is a must for everyone concerned about how to address the problem of tobacco use among young people. Virtually all new smokers are children. Many of them are in their early teens and one out of every three children who begin to smoke will die prematurely because of their use of tobacco. This book includes the most objective, thorough and authoritative research to date on the critical question about whether young people fully understand the consequences of their decision to smoke at the time they start and whether they are able to make rational decisions about this vitally important decision. It leaves the reader with no doubt about the value of efforts to better educate our young people and to empower them to resist the lure of tobacco marketing."

Matthew Myers

" This important book reveals why the young start smoking and why, as adults, they regret having started. It is a great contribution to helping end a national epidemic."

Cheryl Healton

The basis for this study are two extensive telephone surveys (designed by Slovic and the other contributors to this volume) that were conducted between 1999- 2000, recording the responses of over 4000 people. The chapters consider the methodology of the surveys; risk perceptions of the participants, who are categorized according to age; the role of affective feelings in determining risk perceptions; the theoretical framework concerning the role of affect in determining judgment and decisions; the case of intuitive affect-based thinking; and legal and policy implications. Slovic, who teaches psychology at the U. of Oregon in Eugene, is a specialist in risk analysis. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Scholars in communication, medicine, law, education, economics, psychology, public policy, and human ecology attack the tobacco industry's claim that beginning smokers understand the risks. Twelve papers expose the ways cigarette ads trick young people by downplaying the dangers of tobacco use. Contributors discuss the risks of smoking, smokers' later regrets, the nature of addiction, the influence of advertising, and smokers' beliefs in their own immunity. Chapters focus on adolescents' and adults' perceptions of risk, media influence, addiction, and legal and policy matters. Appendixes feature surveys of youth perception of tobacco risk, and casual modeling methodology. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

". . . Clearly written, well documented, provocative . . . incorporates theory from the fields of psychology, economics, advertising, and communication to challenge popular beliefs about the nature of addiction."

Diana Hackbarth