Impact of social norms on Chinese college students' tobacco use

This study evaluates descriptive (DN) and injunctive social norms (IN) as direct predictors of smoking attitudes and the mediating roles of attitudes toward tobacco use and perceived behavioral consequences between them among Chinese college students. An Internet survey was conducted on 711 students from 37 colleges in Beijing. Respondents reported DN, including the perceived prevalence of smoking (PP) and beliefs about smoking prevalence (BP), and IN, including perceived approval of close people (PA-C) and perceived approval based on gender (PA-G). Personal attitudes toward smoking (ATT), perceived consequences of smoking (PC), and current smoking behaviors were also explored. For ATT, all other social norms significantly predicted college students' attitudes on smoking except PP-male and gender norms (i.e., PP-female and PA-G) linked to females' ATT. PP-male and PA-C showed effects on current smoking status. PP-female plays a unique role in female smoking behaviors. PA-C, PA-G, BP, and PP-male indirectly influenced smoking behavior through individual attitudes toward cigarette smoking only among males but not females. IN was stronger in shaping Chinese college students' attitudes and behaviors on smoking than DN. Gender norms played a unique role in Chinese college students' smoking attitudes and behaviors. These findings highlighted that the Chinese college students' smoking attitudes and tobacco use may be embedded within a collectivist cultural lens. The Chinese government's future tobacco control efforts should consider combining DN and IN for interventions and refining policies targeting different genders.