PERSONALITY MEASURES AS PREDICTORS OF SMOKING INITIATION AND CESSATION IN THE UNC ALUMNI HEART-STUDY

MMPI data collected from a sample of college men and women during 1964 -1967 were used to predict smoking initiation and cessation over a 20- year follow-up period. People who subsequently began smoking were more rebellious, impulsive, sensation seeking, and hostile; were less like ly to present a positive self-image; and were socially extraverted whi le in college. People who continued to smoke 20 years later were more hostile and sensation seeking. The personality variables that predicte d smoking initiation and cessation were the same for men and women. Di scussion centers on the potential role of hostility as a predictor of smoking cessation.