Here's why we just can't kick the butt
Washington, Aug 27 : Tried everything but still not able to kick the butt? Well, a
group of researchers has come to your rescue, who claim that they have a fix on why
smokers find it tough to quit cold turkey.
According to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon
University, if a smoker isn't yearning for a cigarette when he makes the decision to kick
the habit - and most aren't - he isn't able to foresee how he will feel when he's in need
of a nicotine buzz.
Published in the September issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association
for Psychological Science, the study, "Exploring the Cold-to-Hot Empathy Gap in Smokers,"
bolsters the theory that smokers not in a state of craving a cigarette will underestimate
and underpredict the intensity of their future urge to smoke.
"We have observed previously that the idea of smoking a cigarette becomes increasingly
attractive to smokers while they are craving," said the study's lead investigator and
University of Pittsburgh professor of psychology Michael Sayette.
"This study suggests that when smokers are not craving, they fail to appreciate just
how powerful their cravings will be. This lack of insight while not craving may lead them
to make decisions-such as choosing to attend a party where there will be lots of
smoking-that they may come to regret," he added.
The study looked at the cold-to-hot empathy gap-that is, the tendency for people in a
"cold" state (not influenced by such visceral factors as hunger, fatigue) to mispredict
their own behavior when in a "hot" state (hungry, fatigued), in part because they can't
remember the intensity of their past cravings.
The researchers gathered 98 male and female smokers for two experimental sessions and
placed them in one of three groups: "hot," "cold," and a comparison group.
Those in a "hot" state were asked to abstain from smoking for 12 hours prior to Session
1 and then were induced to crave a cigarette by holding, but not smoking, a lit one.
Those in a "cold" state smoked up until Session 1 began and did not hold a lit
cigarette. The comparison group did not attend Session 1.
During Session 1, "hot" and "cold" participants were asked to indicate the minimum
amount of money they would need to delay smoking for five minutes in Session 2, when all
participants would be in a "hot" state. Smokers in all three groups were required to
abstain from smoking for 12 hours prior to Session 2 and would experience the lit
cigarette cue described above.
During Session 2, when the subjects in all three groups were craving, they were given
the chance to revise the amount of money they would need to delay smoking for five
minutes. As expected, the "cold" smokers from Session 1 now significantly increased the
amount of money they would need to delay smoking for just five minutes, while those
originally in a "hot" state during Session 1 did not request an increase.
The study participants from the "cold" group were much less likely to accurately
predict the amount of money they would need to put off lighting up. In fact, in Session 2,
nearly half of the "cold" smokers requested an amount of money higher than what they had
initially predicted, while only a quarter of the "hot" group did the same.
--ANI
