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Stress Prevention and Stress Management Techniques IV

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One influential perspective on what motivates people's behavior is detailed in Tory Higgin's self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987). He proposed that people hold disagreeing internal representations of themselves that lead to different emotional states.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Creating Dynamic Images of Short-lived Dopamine Fluctuations with lp-ntPET: Dopamine Movies of Cigarette Smoking
14:21

Creating Dynamic Images of Short-lived Dopamine Fluctuations with lp-ntPET: Dopamine Movies of Cigarette Smoking

Published on: August 6, 2013

Self-expansion and smoking abstinence.

Xiaomeng Xu1, Anna H L Floyd, J Lee Westmaas

  • 1Stony Brook University, Psychology Dept., NY 11794-2500, USA. Xiaomeng.Xu@stonybrook.edu

Addictive Behaviors
|November 26, 2009
PubMed
Summary

Engaging in novel, exciting, and challenging self-expanding events may help smokers quit. Former smokers reported more helpful self-expanding events, supporting their benefit for smoking abstinence.

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Methods to Evaluate Cytotoxicity and Immunosuppression of Combustible Tobacco Product Preparations
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Published on: January 10, 2015

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Last Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Creating Dynamic Images of Short-lived Dopamine Fluctuations with lp-ntPET: Dopamine Movies of Cigarette Smoking
14:21

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Published on: August 6, 2013

Methods to Evaluate Cytotoxicity and Immunosuppression of Combustible Tobacco Product Preparations
09:25

Methods to Evaluate Cytotoxicity and Immunosuppression of Combustible Tobacco Product Preparations

Published on: January 10, 2015

Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Psychology
  • Addiction Research
  • Neuroscience of Reward

Background:

  • Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S.
  • Smoking activates the mesolimbic dopamine reward system, reinforcing the behavior.
  • This reward system is also activated by pleasurable, self-expanding activities.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To test if self-expanding events can replace the reinforcement from smoking, thereby aiding cessation.
  • To investigate the relationship between self-expanding events and smoking abstinence.

Main Methods:

  • Surveyed 74 current smokers and 66 former smokers about self-expanding events.
  • Assessed events experienced in the 2 months prior to the quit attempt.
  • Compared event frequency and perceived helpfulness between groups.

Main Results:

  • Former smokers reported significantly more self-expanding events than current smokers.
  • Former smokers found self-expanding events more helpful for quitting.
  • A significant positive correlation existed between self-expanding events and abstinence duration in current smokers.

Conclusions:

  • Experiencing self-expanding activities can be beneficial for achieving and maintaining smoking abstinence.
  • Self-expanding events may offer an alternative reward pathway to smoking.
  • Further research into leveraging self-expanding activities for smoking cessation is warranted.