The Role of Ambivalence in College Nonsmokers' Information Seeking and Information Processing

摘要

The abundant prosmoking influences in college can cultivate a sense of ambivalence about smoking among many nonsmoking students. In this study, the authors investigated the role of ambivalence in college nonsmokers' seeking and processing of smoking-related information. Three hundred ninety-six nonsmoking college students participated in an online study. Hypotheses were built into a predictive model and tested using structural equation modeling. Higher ambivalence was found to be associated with greater information seeking in the past 30 days. Past information seeking, in turn, was associated with deeper processing and greater acceptance of new antismoking information. Implications of the results for smoking prevention on college campuses are discussed.