US researchers have found that people who quit their habit of smoking may also develop a better personality, curbing traits such as neuroticism and impulsivity.
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Results showed that tobacco users were higher in two distinct personality traits during young adulthood including impulsivity (acting without thinking about the consequences) and neuroticism or being emotionally negative and anxious.
University of Missouri researchers also found that young people with higher levels of impulsivity and neuroticism were more likely to engage in detrimental behaviors like smoking.
“The data indicate that for some young adults smoking is impulsive,” said lead author Andrew Littlefield.
“That means that ۱۸-year-olds are acting without a lot of forethought and favor immediate rewards over long term negative consequences.”
The study also found that people who quit smoking can lose much of these two unfavorable traits and build up a better personality.
“However, we find individuals who show the most decreases in impulsivity also are more likely [to] quit smoking. If we can target anti-smoking efforts at that impulsivity, it may help the young people stop smoking,” the lead author added.
Findings also suggested that those who quit smoking had the biggest declines in impulsivity and neuroticism between the ages of 18 and 25.
“Smokers at age 18 had higher impulsivity rates than non-smokers at age 18, and those who quit tended to display the steepest declines in impulsivity between ages 18 and 25. However, as a person ages and continues to smoke, smoking becomes part of a regular behavior pattern and less impulsive. The motives for smoking later in life - habit, craving, loss of control and tolerance - are key elements of smoking dependence and appear to be more independent of personality traits,” Littlefield noted.
Researchers emphasized that a complex relationship of genetic and environmental factors influence smoking and other addictions, which need further investigations.
