Personality and Behavioral Correlates of Cigarette Smoking: One-Year Follow-up

Abstract

The smoking behavior of 885 students in high school and 1 yr. later in college was correlated with scores on scales and factor scales of the California Psychological Inventory and of the Objective Behavior Inventory. The data were analyzed separately by sex, and groups of students who started and who quit smoking during the period of study were compared with those who continued either to smoke or to abstain. Smokers were less well-adjusted and more likely to engage in antisocial activities. These relationships were stronger among women than among men, and those who showed behavioral ambivalence toward smoking, i.e., started or quit, were intermediate between' smokers and nonsmokers with respect to personality and behavior. The results are interpreted as suggesting a direct relationship between personality and cigarette smoking.

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