SAYING NO TO ENVIRONMENTAL TOBACCO-SMOKE - DETERMINANTS OF ASSERTIVENESS AMONG NONSMOKING EMPLOYEES

Background. Nonsmokers' assertiveness can help regulate smoking in wor ksites by enhancing the salience of nonsmoking social norms. This stud y examined determinants of employees' assertiveness toward smoking col leagues. Methods. Cross-sectional data were collected from 898 nonsmok ing Dutch employees. Potential determinants were chosen using the atti tude-social influence-efficacy model. Results. Fifty-one percent of no nsmoking employees asked co-workers not to smoke. Assertive respondent s had colleagues who more often acted assertively toward smokers at wo rk, had a more positive attitude to asking colleagues not to smoke, an d had a higher perceived self-efficacy. Moreover, assertive employees more often perceived hindrance from environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and had more negative beliefs about ETS at work. Conclusions. What mat ters is whether ETS is perceived as bothersome and harmful. It is Like ly that both conditions must be met for nonsmokers to behave assertive ly. Worksite educational programs could focus more on increasing nonsm okers' awareness of the harmfulness of regular exposure to ETS at work to increase social pressure on employees who smoke in places that are shared by smokers and nonsmokers. However, the effectiveness of such strategies is yet unknown. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.