A questionnaire measuring smoking habits, attitudes toward the danger of smoking, and future intentions regarding smoking, was administered to 602 college students. as expected, smokers tended to minimize the danger of smoking and were more skeptical of the validity of the scientific evidence linking smoking and lung cancer than non-smokers. Smokers may be said to reduce dissonance by avowing an intention to quit smoking in the future and believing that they can do so. Approximately half of the smokers indicated subjective dissatisfaction with their habit, this being stronger and more consistent for men.
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