Motivation for smoking cessation: Differences between attempters and nonattempters

The current study explored differences between daily cigarette smokers who have attempted to quit smoking in the past ('attempters') and those who have never attempted to quit ('nonattempters') in an effort to understand why certain smokers do not attempt to quit despite the well-known health risks associated with smoking. Based on a consensus in the literature that outcome expectancies about the consequences of smoking are largely connected with quitting behaviors, it was hypothesized that attempters and nonattempters would have different levels of expectancies as measured by the Smoking Consequences Questionnaire-Adult version (Copeland, Brandon & Quinn, 1995). This hypothesis was not supported, indicating that outcome expectancies may not be a crucial factor in motivating smokers to quit. The current study posits that certain smokers may not exhibit enough worry about negative aspects of smoking due to disengagement beliefs (Dijkstra & Brosschot, 2003), resulting in low motivation to quit.