High School, College, and Professional School Faculty Members' Perceptions of Students Who are Current Smokers, Former Smokers, and Nonsmokers

Abstract

A questionnaire rating the descriptions of a hypothetical student smoker, a former smoker, and a nonsmoker, as well as personal smoking habits, was administered to 35 high school, 34 college, and 24 professional school faculty members. Respondents rated smokers more negatively than nonsmokers or former smokers. Paired-sample t tests indicated that smokers were rated as less intelligent, independent, conscientious, and ambitious and as having poorer judgment and being more hostile than the nonsmoking student. In addition, paired-sample t tests identified only one significant difference out of seven between the ratings of the former smoker and the nonsmoker; the former smoker was rated less artistically creative than one who had never smoked. High school teachers' ratings of students who smoked relative to nonsmokers were more negative than those of college and professional school faculty, suggesting that high school student smokers might be especially socially penalized for their decision to smoke.