PSYCHOSOCIAL AND PERSONALITY-DIFFERENCES IN CHIPPERS AND REGULAR SMOKERS

Tobacco chippers are an anomalous group of smokers who, while having s moked regularly for years, have avoided the clutches of nicotine depen dence. In an attempt to better understand the factors associated with nondependent cigarette smoking, this paper describes a study in which matched groups of regular smokers, chippers, and nonsmokers were compa red on a number of personality and psychosocial variables believed rel evant to drug-seeking behavior. The strongest finding indicated that s ensation seeking best discriminates among the three groups, with nonsm okers clearly viewing themselves as more socially inhibited and less i nterested in pursuing sensations relative to both regular smokers and chippers, both of whom evidenced comparable scores. Regular smokers ev idenced less self-control, or restraint, and appeared more impulsive a nd unable to resist temptation, compared to chippers and nonsmokers. S urprisingly, none of the groups could be differentiated on the basis o f perceived stress, coping, or social support. Even among the personal ity variables, however, the effect sizes were relatively small, indica ting that these differences in personality cannot fully account for ch ipper's resistance to dependence.