Attributional Processes in Smoking and Addiction

The view that cigarette smoking, alcoholism and the abuse of other drugs should be modifiable by health education is often countered by the argument that such behaviours are addictive, which is traditionally taken to mean that they are intractable without intensive treatment. This paper questions this traditional view of addiction, pointing out that ‘self-cure’ rates for addictions may be much higher than indicated in the clinical literature. It is argued also that individuals who define themselves as ‘addicts’ in this traditional sense may be making a self-attribution for their behaviour which implies that they are not free to behave otherwise and hence that there is no point in trying to quit. Questions for discussion include (1) the relationship of addiction to the expectation of positive drug effects (which may be relevant even to less experienced users) rather than mere avoidance of withdrawal symptoms; and (2) the trade-off between possible advantages and disadvantages of health education using a ‘smoking is addictive’ argument as a deterrent.