Abstract

This article reports the results of an investigation into the needs of smoking by college students in various smoking situations. Specifically, we measured the differences in the needs of smoking between sex, among personality dimensions (tough-mindness, introversion, extraversion, neuroticism), and smoking patterns (regular versus irregular smoker). Smoking situations were divided into low-arousal situations (boredom, relaxation, repetitive work, etc.) and high-arousal situations (emotional stress, anxiety, etc.). In general, studies concerned with smoking suggested that most of the smokers showed more desire for smoking when they were in low-arousal situations than when they were in high-arousal situations. That is, smokers showed more desire for smoking in boring situations or during breaks. The results of the present study seem to support previous studies. College student smokers tended to show more desire for smoking in low-arousal situations than in high-arousal situations. It should be noted, however, that college smokers showed more desire for smoking in low-arousal situations regardless of their sex and personality dimensions, whereas previous studies suggested that the smoking desire was different according to subject's sex or personality dimensions in different smoking situations. The present study suggested that smoking is not for decreasing stress or anxiety, but for seeking new stimulus.