Stereotypes of smokers among health science students

Despite the serious and well-known health risks associated with cigarette smoking, smoking rates continue to be high, particularly in young women. Positive images of smokers presented by cigarette advertisers appear to affect public opinions of smoking. This paper describes two investigations of the image of smoking held by health science students. Subjects were given a brief description of a fellow student and asked for their first impressions. For some students, the descriptions included the information that the student smoked, while in other conditions this information was deleted. Study One showed that nursing students held a clear and mainly positive stereotype of the young female smoker, regardless of whether or not they smoked themselves. Study Two replicated this finding with a group of physiotherapy students, and extended it to include male smokers. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for community interventions; in particular, it is suggested that the existence of a positive stereotype of the smoker among health professionals could seriously undermine such interventions.