Exaggeration of perceived smoking norms among college students: Does smoking status matter?

Introduction: Research suggests that over half of the college students who have smoked within the past 30 days deny being smokers ("deniers"). Furthermore, college students overestimate injunctive and descriptive norms of peer drug use. The purposes of this study were to (a) estimate the prevalence of deniers and students who identify as smokers within a college sample, (b) determine whether students overestimate descriptive and injunctive norms related to cigarette use by peers, and (c) determine whether the degree of exaggeration differs according to smoking status. Method: Participants included 1904 students (18-24 years) from a Northeastern private university who were primarily female (59%), Caucasian (70%), and first-year students (59%). Students completed an online questionnaire that asked for reports of current smoking behavior and attitudes, as well as estimates of other students' behaviors and attitudes. Results: Results indicated that students significantly overestimated the percentage of peers who had ever smoked, smoked within the past 30 days, and smoked on 20 or more days within the past month. Additionally, estimates differed by smoking status, as did students' perceptions of their peers' attitudes regarding the acceptability of smoking in college. Discussion: These findings suggest that college students believe their peers smoke more and are more approving of smoking than oneself. Students who denied being a smoker despite current smoking behavior strongly overestimated smoking rates and believed peers were even more accepting of smoking. These exaggerations may result in increased smoking behavior, and future interventions might target normative assumptions while considering one's smoking status.