Abstract

The overarching aim of this research was to investigate the role of affectivity in real-world smoking behaviour. The motivational relationship between affect and smoking was conceptualised within an interactive hierarchical framework: assessing associations with natural situational variability over time, and moderation by relevant individual differences (chiefly, BIS-BAS scores - as reflecting affective disposition/motivational sensitivity).

An initial questionnaire study was undertaken towards the development of a diary design that would be useful in capturing experiences around everyday smoking behaviour (Chapter 4). This design was then applied in a series of diary studies that were set up to address questions pertaining to the central aim of the research. The main body of the thesis is structured around these areas of enquiry.

Chapter 5 tested competing theoretical models of mood-smoking motivation in everyday contexts and Chapter 6 extended this Investigation hierarchically: to ascertain whether there are individual differences in identified motivational experiences. Chapter 7 compared smoking with natural appetitive behaviour (food consumption) to better demarcate parts of the motivational process that might be set awry in reinforcement of non-natural consumption. The influence of more general periodic shifts in motivational experiences and behaviour on consumption/desire to consume was examined in Chapter 8. The final investigative chapter (Chapter 9) compared processes identified for normal smoking behaviour with processes during deprivation/abstinence. Each chapter draws on data from the diary studies as appropriate.

Findings were generally congruent with other naturalistic research in supporting positive mood enhancement (principally, anticipatory elevation of hedonic tone) as a motivation for normal smoking. BAS reward-sensitivity moderated hedonic incentive effects, but not in the expected direction. Comparisons with natural consumption behaviour suggested that motivations for natural appetitive rewards may differ from those for acquired substance use. Notably, smoking motivations changed somewhat during deprivation, when tense arousal and frustration emerged as operative factors.

Chapter 10 considers the implications of the research for models of mood and personality. These include implications for conceptualising reinforcement sensitivity.