Young people's perception of smoking at work

Abstract

FORTY NINE young adults were interviewed about their experience of smoking at work. Intensive analysis of their replies revealed that smoking has a valuable meaning when considered within the con text of work. On entry to work it provides a symbol of achieving adulthood: in boring jobs it allows the smoker to escape, even for a few moments, from the tedium or from fellow workers who seem to identify with that kind of work, and in relations with workmates it is of value in social exchange. The implications of these findings for the development of anti-smoking campaigns in the workplace are discussed.