Self‐Presentation, Reasoned Action, and Adolescents' Decisions to Smoke Cigarettes¹

The effectiveness of a one‐shot intervention on the social, medical or medical/social consequences of smoking in deterring adolescent smoking was evaluated. Four hundred twenty adolescents completed surveys which measured attitudes, subjective norms, stereotypes, self‐presentational beliefs regarding smoking, intentions to smoke, and smoking status at three points in time. The predictive ability of a Theory of Reasoned Behavior and of Impression Management Theory in determining adolescent smoking decisions was also assessed.