Self-Images and Cigarette Smoking in Adolescence

Adolescents' self-perceptions (real and ideal), perceptions of their ideal date, and perceptions of stereotypic male and female smokers and nonsmokers were assessed. These perceptions were related to subjects' smoking status and to their intentions to smoke. Subjects who smoked differed from nonsmokers in having real self-concepts and ideal dates that more closely matched the stereotypic smoker. Most important, nonsmoking subjects who had self-concepts, ideal dates, and certain aspects of ideal selves that were close to the smoker stereotype were most likely to intend to smoke.