RESEARCH_FILE
Frederick X. Gibbons
Iowa State University
Known for:Social comparison and risk perception in smokers — showing that smokers systematically underestimate their personal health risk relative to population data, with the effect more pronounced among heavier, more dependent smokers
Key findings
- 1997
Smokers rate their personal health risk from smoking as lower than population statistics warrant. This optimistic self-exemption is not explained by ignorance of the risks — it is motivated cognition that is stronger among heavier and more dependent smokers. Smokers' health-risk perceptions ↗
Research areas
Related old scripts
I’ll Quit When Things Calm Down: why the “later” rule keeps smoking in placeI Can't Cope Without It: when one cigarette starts to feel necessaryThis Is My Last One: Why the “last cigarette” keeps happeningMaybe there's someone better out there: why the comparison keeps showing upThe paper trail will look worse for me than for him: testing that fear