High school and college students' perceptions of current smokers, former smokers, and nonsmokers

A questionnaire assessing perceptions of hypothetical male and female current smokers, a former smoker, and a nonsmoker, as well as personal smoking habits, was administered to 108 suburban high school and 115 college students. Both smokers and nonsmokers held a more negative view of smokers than nonsmokers; mean character ratings of former smokers fell in between. Paired-sample t tests indicated that smokers were viewed as less intelligent, creative, independent, conscientious, ambitious, and considerate, as having poorer judgment, and as more hostile than their nonsmoking counterparts. Respondents who currently smoke rated hypothetical smokers less negatively than respondents who did not smoke. In addition, paired-sample t tests identified no significant differences between the overall ratings of the female and male target smokers. No mean differences emerged on the ratings of targets; however, the high school students were more likely than the college students to report believing that the majority of students at their school smoke and that teachers discriminate against students who smoke.