Smoking Cigarettes and the Theory of Planned Behavior - Essay Example

Abhudhay Dev www.academia-research.com Order 156764 10 March, 2007 Smoking cigarettes and the strengths and weakness of the theory of planned behavior. Life of a person in 21st century had became so fast and busy that he has no time to take care of himself. The responsibilities imposed on him makes him tense in his professional as well as personal life. To bear out this tension he becomes addictive of some materials like coffee, tea, cigarette, alcohol and other such things. These things give him pleasure, make him feel ritualistic, provides alertness and keeps him away from sleepiness and laziness. This help him to work for hours continuously without sleep or rest. It provides extra energy to work and increase concentration of person. This is a habit and people become addicted to these kind of things very quickly. Among the addiction of things the addiction of cigarette smoking is very common and popular. A approximate number of adults smoking in United States is about 44.5 million. 23% of the high school students are current smokers. The rate of persons who start smoking is more in students than in adults. This is the major point of concern for the health organization to reduce this rate. Some people smoke to make their image glamorous and effective. The person falling in these categories are most from the reel life persons or star personalities. Military also advertises smoking as glamorous part of life and society. This is a kind of irrational behavior of man that forces him to get addicted to such things in life that are harmful to him. He knows that these are harmful but enjoys the addiction. The irrational behavior is the abnormal behavior of person that is related to his addictions. They do not know how to act at some instance. When they are addicted to something they get unconscious in the absence of it. Who is responsible for this kind of action or behavior the person or the environment around him. About the first cigarette every person thinks that he will not be addicted of it but soon when he is used to the smoking environment he starts it slowly and occasionally. The first cigarette offered to him is just the initialization of his irrational behavior. Smoking for the first time is due to the curiosity of the feeling that something is missing in life and that must be filled by smoking. Smoking is also done to equalize his standard with others of his age. They think that smoking creates a glamorous and mature image. Even in the early stage of smoking majority hates the taste of cigarette but due to the irrational behavior of smoking it makes them feel satisfied of smoking. With first few cigarettes one thinks he would not get addicted to smoking since he is smoking only one or two in couple of days but then sitting in the environment it gets doubled and the person becomes addicted to it very soon. Even then he tries to quit smoking that becomes difficult for him. Then if someone offers you a cigarette you cannot stop yourself from smoking. This forces a person for irrational behavior of smoking and makes him addicted to the heinous act of smoking. Smokers have a basic habit of smoking at certain interval or at certain time like in the morning of after having dinner or such time. This makes him slave of cigarette and cannot quit at these times. In early stage of smoking person smokes in group but then individually needs cigarette at certain interval. He becomes dependent on smoking or cigarette. At work also to release tension smokers depend on cigarette. There are some harmful effects of smoking on the person who smokes also on the person around him at the time of smoking. During smoking the blood pressure of person increases and reduces the flow of blood causing dizziness and other such activities. Smoking reduces stamina of person, shortness of breadth, reduces sense of taste and smell. If person do not smokes he gets irritated, loses his concentration, do not have proper sleep or rest, headache and other such abnormal activities. Lungs are the main part of the body that are effected by smoking. Cancer is caused by smoking. bronchitis is the disease caused by cigarette. Smoking during the pregnancy can effect the unborn child. Smoking also causes mental illness. Smoking reduces medication causes negative effect on lungs, liver and heart directly. The addiction of nicotine is very dangerous and difficult to quit as well. After quitting also there are some negative effects like headache and lack of concentration. Digestive system also gets effected after quitting. There are various cancer that occurs due to smoking like lung cancer, mouth cancer. Not only those who smoke gets effected but also the people around him gets effected indirectly by smoking. This kind of indirect smoking is called passive smoking. Passive smoking is done by inhaling the smoke from the burning cigarette of other person nearby. Sometimes passive smoking may be more harmful then direct smoking and can even cause death. Passive smoking had caused for ban of smoking in public places and even at workplaces to keep the working environment more feasible for non smokers. There are many short and long term effects of passive smoking. The people suffering from asthma may observe an attack due to smoking nearby. Also some allergic person can suffer from irritation, sneezing and burning of eyes. In a closed room or cabin smoking can cause to suffocation and when inhaled by a non smoker causes unconsciousness by the reduction of blood flow in the body. Its long term effects are same as that of direct smoking. Passive smoking can cause lung cancer, asthma, bronchitis and such disease. Smoking near a pregnant woman may cause miscarriage or birth defect. Smoke of cigarette causes irrational behavior of children and annoyance of partner. In a research shown that the partners get more annoyed to smoking habit. Due to all these reasons certain laws have been implemented by government to stop smoking at public places. Selling cigarettes to children under eighteen has also banned. Various advertisements and warnings are shown on televisions and also the harmful effects of smoking is shown to aware the children from the addiction of smoking. For chain smokers it is very difficult to quit smoking. But this behavior can be changed by the theory of planned behavior. Theory of planned behavior says that abnormal behavior of any person can be changed by studying his behavior which can be later planned and changed. This theory helps us to know about someone's behavior. This theory depends on past behavior and relates it with present behavior. The major factor on which this irrational behavior depends is the person's past behavior and his environment of living. Certain people smoke because of their colleagues forces them to smoke or influenced by them and start imitating like them. Some get influenced by stars or any famous celebrity and want to have fame like them by imitating them in their habits. Recently smoking and dirking scenes are banned in bollywood movies by censor board. They impose the charge of increasing the glamour of smoking among youth. Some intentionally have the wish to smoke. This makes the major population of smoking among the young people. The human behavior is categorized as behavioral belief, normative belief and control belief . the attitude of a person depends on these beliefs. Theory of planned behavior relates the past and present behavior and effect of past on present addictions. One can easily know about behavior of some person. Theory of planned behavior helps in predicting behavior control of any person. This theory has helped many to quit smoking. The common behavior of person is called behavioral belief. This belief is also the individual attitude of a person. The behavioral belief of person towards smoking is his own views about smoking. If it is positive then he will find nothing wrong in the addiction of smoking and will not wish to quit smoking. The normal behavior of a person defines his environmental conditions. This belief indicates that he has the addiction of smoking due to his working or living environment. Even if feels this act negative then also he has to smoke to meet the expectations of others. This belief is generally negative of the individual. The third belief shows the perceptional power of the individual that he feels the act of smoking as negative and control his perception of smoking. he can smoke in the environment but will not. Its his will power that resists himself from smoking. if the perceptional power of the individual is low he will be easily influenced by this act of smoking and cannot resist himself from smoking addiction. Intention of any person also plays an important role in the addiction of smoking. If he is intend to smoke, he will find the easy way of adapting this habit. But when his intention is to abstain from this act he will certainly find way to keep himself from this act. Theory of planned behavior fails under the condition when the violation is not under control of an individual. Thus a new theory arise that also describes the violation power is theory of reasoned action. The strength of theory of planned behavior: This theory is accurate in obtaining information about someone's behavior. Expectation of others from us and our expectation from someone is right or not. This theory provides the knowledge of studying attitude of an individual. How to get adjusted to an external environment and get up to the expectation of others is well known by this theory. We can change the attitude and can stop him from smoking and other such actions. By collecting the information of past and present behavior and relating them can give us a result of how the individual get engaged in this act and what were the past conditions that made him to do so. The behavioral, normal and control beliefs may get succeeded in planning his behavior and change his attitude according to him. This will help the individual to carry out his desired actions that will provide him personal satisfaction. This theory is very useful in abstaining from the cigarette smoking. If someone wishes to quit smoking he can learn about this theory and quit smoking by studying his own behavior. A smoker in between of non smokers can adjust himself and a non smoker gets accommodated in between of some smokers by the knowledge of their behavior. The knowledge of negative effects of cigarette smoking also changes attitude of certain people about their views on smoking and become health conscious. Thus this theory is effective in changing someone's attitude in positive respect. Weakness of theory of planned behavior: The correct and appropriate knowledge of this theory is helpful in determining someone's attitude. If the study of someone's behavior is inappropriate then it may cause negative effect and may cause mental illness of that person. The person may also engaged to any other heinous act. Depression may cause due to less knowledge of theory. A person may even attempt to suicide because of frustration and mental depression. The control belief of the person must be studied well before changing his attitude towards quit smoking otherwise he may also get engaged to some other drug addiction. The theory must be applied to person who are internally strong. It may not cause harm to other who are in contact to them. The theory of planned behavior does not gives knowledge of intentional control. If a person has the intention to quit smoking then only this theory must be applied otherwise it will be a total wastage. The change in behavior of someone is not at the same instant but it will take some time and thus a strong intention of quitting cigarette is essential in the individual. This theory is only applicable when behavior is not under volitional control. The theory is also applicable to the people who are mentally stable and make decisions on the available information. This theory is not universal and is different for different people according to their habits and past behavior also different according to the age group. The perceived behavior control is also taken into account of person while studying his behavior. Its not easy to quit smoking but also not impossible. This irrational behavior can be changed by gaining appropriate knowledge of planned behavior. Work cited 1) http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/FastFacts.htm#facts REFERENCE:- 1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_smoking#Health_effects 2) http://hsc.usf.edu/kmbrown/TRA_TPB.htm 3) http://www.people.umass.edu/aizen/pdf/tpb.intervention.pdf 4) http://www.12manage.com/methods_ajzen_theory_planned_behaviour.html 5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_smoking Read More