Do cigarette smokers have different personality patterns than non-smokers?

• Elisardo Becoña Iglesias ^[1] ; Elena Fernández del Río ^[1] ; Benito García Morán ^[1] ; Úrsula Martínez Pradeda ^[1] ; Bárbara Piñeiro Neiro ^[1] ; María del Carmen Míguez Varela ^[1] ; María Isabel Vázquez Rodríguez ^[1]
  1. [1] Universidade de Santiago de Compostela

     Universidade de Santiago de Compostela

     Santiago de Compostela, España

     
• Localización: The Spanish Journal of Psychology, ISSN 1138-7416, Nº. 16, 2013, págs. 1-10
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The aim of the present study is to examine the relationship between cigarette smoking and personality patterns in the general population, taking into account the possible influence of nicotine dependence. We used a stratified random sample of 1,081 adults from the general population (519 smokers and 562 non-smokers) in the region of Galicia (Spain). Personality patterns were assessed with the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III). The results indicated that nicotine-dependent smokers had a higher probability of obtaining a PREV > 75 in the histrionic and antisocial personality patterns and non-nicotine-dependent smokers are more likely to present a PREV > 75 in paranoid personality pattern than non-smokers. On the contrary, non-smokers are more likely to have a PREV > 75 on the compulsive personality scale. Our findings suggest that there are different personality patterns according to smoking status (smoker/non-smoker) and according to the presence of nicotine dependence. We concluded that it is necessary to identify the personality characteristics of smokers, since these characteristics could be key variables in increased risk of being a smoker and of difficulties for quitting smoking.