Perceived Effects, Motor Dexterity, Cognitive and Affective Functioning Between Smokers and Non-Smokers among Selected College Students

Background/Aim: Smoking addiction is a pervasive and high risk behavior linked with complex and damaging effects to a person’s biology, behaviors, psychological well-being and cultural influence. Chronic smoking is also associated with increased risk of exposure to neurodegenerative diseases and cigarette smoking poorly affects both cognitive and affective functioning of the smokers. The perceived effects of smoking are often generalized by society such that it is viewed in extremes. This means that the societal perceptions are either smoking serves as a “relaxing mechanism”, hence, making it as acceptable as any normal habit or that, conversely, smoking is gravely dangerous to one’s health when considered as a vice. This research focused on the causal comparative ex post facto of smoking and its perceived effects to the psychological functioning among smokers and non-smokers. Methods: O’ Connor Finger Dexterity Test, Abstract Reasoning Test and Affective Functioning Assessment Test were used as bases of data comparison between the two groups. Result/Conclusion: The test results indicate that there is a significant difference between the cognitive functioning and affective functioning among the smokers in comparison with non-smokers.