Kim Sei-Hill, Shanahan James
Department of Communication Studies, Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA.
J Health Commun. 2003 Jul-Aug;8(4):343-67. doi: 10.1080/10810730305723.
Public sentiment in the United States has been evolving against cigarette smoking. Providing support for stronger tobacco control legislation, unfavorable public sentiment has contributed to the decrease in the size of the smoking population in this country. The present study hypothesizes that the unfavorable public sentiment may also discourage cigarette smoking by creating an unfavorable "smoking climate" in which smoking is socially rejected as a deviant behavior. Analyses of several secondary data-sets provided evidence that smoking rates are lower in the states where the public holds relatively unfavorable sentiment toward cigarette smoking. The relationship between public sentiment and smoking rates was significant even after controlling for the effects of state-level tobacco control measures, such as cigarette taxes and smoking restrictions in private workplaces and restaurants. We also found that smokers who have experienced unfavorable public sentiment are more willing to quit smoking than those who have not, supporting the hypothesized effects of antismoking public sentiment on smoking behaviors.
美国公众对吸烟的看法一直在变化。不利的公众舆论为更强有力的烟草控制立法提供了支持，导致该国吸烟人口数量减少。本研究假设，不利的公众舆论还可能通过营造一种不利的“吸烟氛围”来抑制吸烟，在这种氛围中，吸烟被社会视为一种越轨行为而遭到排斥。对几个二手数据集的分析表明，在公众对吸烟持相对负面看法的州，吸烟率较低。即使在控制了州一级烟草控制措施（如香烟税以及私人工作场所和餐馆的吸烟限制）的影响之后，公众舆论与吸烟率之间的关系仍然显著。我们还发现，经历过不利公众舆论的吸烟者比未经历过的吸烟者更愿意戒烟，这支持了反吸烟公众舆论对吸烟行为的假设影响。
