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AJPH First Look, published online ahead of print Jun 28, 2007
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AJPH.2006.101071v1
97/8/1399    most recent
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August 2007, Vol 97, No. 8 | American Journal of Public Health 1399-1400
© 2007 American Public Health Association
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2006.101071

RESEARCH AND PRACTICE

Implications of the Normative Fallacy in Young Adult Smokers Aged 19–24 Years

John A. Cunningham, PhD and Peter L. Selby, MBBS

John A. Cunningham and Peter L. Selby are with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and the University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario.

Correspondence: Request for reprints should be sent to John Cunningham, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Russell Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2S1, Canada (e-mail: John_Cunningham{at}camh.net).

We used a random-digit-dialed survey of 434 smokers to demonstrate that approximately three quarters of young adult (aged 19–24 years) smokers overestimated by 20% or more the proportion of their peers who smoked. The effect of this normative fallacy was significantly greater in young adult smokers than in smokers aged 25 years or older. Because of the strength of this false consensus effect in young adult smokers, normative feedback interventions might be especially effective in this age group.






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