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Updated: Jul 7, 2026
14:21
Creating Dynamic Images of Short-lived Dopamine Fluctuations with lp-ntPET: Dopamine Movies of Cigarette Smoking
Published on: August 6, 2013
Smokers' expectancies for smoking versus nicotine
Peter S Hendricks1, Thomas H Brandon
1Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco 94143, USA. phendricks@lppi.ucsf.edu
Summary
Smokers associate negative health risks with smoking but addiction with nicotine itself. This suggests a more nuanced understanding of nicotine
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Psychology
- Addiction Science
- Tobacco Research
Background:
- Previous research often conflated expectancies for smoking with those for nicotine.
- Understanding smokers' specific associations is crucial for effective interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare smokers' expectancies for the act of smoking versus nicotine alone.
- To investigate differential associations with negative consequences and addiction.
Main Methods:
- A word association task was administered to 201 smokers.
- Participants were randomized to complete prompts about 'Smoking' or 'Nicotine'.
- Responses were collected within a 30-second time limit.
Main Results:
- Smokers held similar general expectancies for both smoking and nicotine.
- Negative consequences were more strongly linked to smoking than nicotine.
- Addiction expectancies were more strongly linked to nicotine than smoking.
Conclusions:
- Smokers possess a more realistic conceptualization of nicotine's role in smoking.
- Findings have implications for nicotine-based and behavioral smoking cessation interventions.
- Results inform experimental designs manipulating perceived nicotine content.
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