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Personal Growth: Purpose

In the Brains of Smokers

By Mary Lee LaBay, Ph.D.

If you have ever wanted to help a friend or loved one to quit smoking, you know it can be a difficult and thankless pursuit. We know that whenever we try to convince someone to do something they are not ready to do, there will be resistance. Remember how we felt when our parents tried to change our behavior, and we clearly witness how well it works when we try to convince our children to make changes. It is no different for smokers, even when they know that they are risking their health and even when they say they know they need to quit.

Recent studies have been released from Baylor College of Medicine that may now shed a light on this issue when it comes to smokers and the decisions they make. We all know the many ways that smokers resist the usual rationale concerning the expense, health risks and so forth. They may agree, but they continue to smoke anyway. This compelling study discovered a surprising factor: smokers actually make decisions differently from non-smokers!

In the study, they had subjects play a game designed to investigate financial investment strategies and decisions. During the game, subjects were given feedback as to how much they could have made had they made different decisions.  While there were no incentives to change strategies, non-smokers were swayed by news of the possibilities and altered their tactics, while smokers disregarded the information.

We can only begin to imagine the value of this type of information in a field such as hypnotherapy, or in any related field that deals with combating addictions. Studies such as these are vital in understanding biases in our decision-making processes.

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