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Psychology Paper

1. Goal Setting

Smoking is one of the most significant causes of lung cancer which is acknowledged as

the leading cause of cancer-related deaths resulting in over 150,000 deaths annually in the United

States (Armitage and Arden, 789). For that reason, as a habitual smoker, I recognized that I had

the responsibility to quit smoking considering the benefits of smoking cessation are endless, with

good health being among the notable rewards. By stopping smoking, I reduced the risk of a heart

attack as well as those associated with high levels of carbon monoxide in my blood and

improved my sense of smell and lung capacity. Besides, by quitting smoking, I rewired my brain

subsequently breaking the addiction cycle, prevented the development of emphysema, and

helped in the return of cilia in my lungs. However, "the process of quitting smoking is easier said

than done" (Aveyard et al.). Having tried to quit smoking, I understand how it is complicated.

2. Monitoring

After implementing my behavioral change strategies, I decided to develop a smoking

behavior cigarette tally sheet, so that to successfully track my progress and establish a ‘baseline'.

According to, Aveyard et al. smoking is psychological, behaviourally and physically addictive.

Hence, it was important that I understood my smoking behavior as a way of quitting the habit.

The tally sheet came in handy as it helped me establish various factors concerning my smoking

behavior, I was able to notice certain patterns for example, when, where, why and with whom I

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smoked with at different times. To break these patterns, it was vital that I deeply understand my

smoking behavior on my way to full recovery. Below is my final tally sheet indicating every

time I did light up a cigarette.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

7:00 AM

10:00AM

1:00 PM

4:00 PM

9:00 PM

3. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

To quit smoking most of the smokers have a mixture of motivations such as extrinsic and

intrinsic (Armitage and Arden, 789). An intrinsic motivation describes the change in behavior

that is driven by internal rewards. Intrinsic motivators include knowledge, accomplishment, and

stimulation. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation is defined as the change of behavior that is

inspired by praise, grades, fame, and money as external rewards. Intrinsic motivation has its

origin from inside a person; however, extrinsic motivation has its source outside of an individual.

There are different rewards of extrinsic motivation, for example, unexpected rewards,

performance-contingent rewards, and completion contingent rewards. To increase the smoking

cessation rates the knowledge about extrinsic and intrinsic motivators is very significant to the

problematic process (Treasure & Treasure, 223).

During my smoking behavior change, I derived my best driving forces from intrinsic

motivators most especially because they are intrinsically rewarding. It is important that I

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acknowledge the “process of withdrawing from smoking proves to be challenging and difficult”

(Aveyard et al.). In consequence, intrinsic motivators stayed with me through the most

demanding phase of cessation, termed as withdrawal symptoms. By a smoker being intrinsically

motivated they increase the chances of successfully quitting that those individuals motivated

extrinsically. Due to the result being temporary extrinsic motivators do not adequately help a

person to quit smoking. For example, regarding women smokers, pregnancy cannot be termed as

a lasting solution for one to quit smoking. Hence it is essential for one to find a long-lasting

motivator.

4. Maslow and Motivation

McLeod explains that in "psychology the Maslow's hierarchy of needs can be termed as a

motivational theory that is made up of five-tier model human needs. This model is described as

the hierarchical levels within a pyramid." The Maslow (1943, 1954) explains that in most cases

individuals are motivated to attain specific needs, where some needs are prioritized as opposed to

others. The most primary need is survival, for that reason, the need for a better and healthy life

acted as a motivator towards me quitting smoking. For that reason, after a full behavioral change,

the next level in life is what motivated me to keep going on.

Figure 1: Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (McLeod).

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As depicted in Figure 1 the pyramid is a five-tier model namely; psychological, safety,

love, esteem and self-actualization. The top level represents the being needs while the remaining

four levels represent the deficiency needs. My smoking cessation lies within the deficiency needs

as they arise from deprivation and such due to being unmet I was motivated even more. The

challenges I encountered, most especially the withdrawal symptoms led to my motivation

growing stronger for as long as I felt I was being denied the chance to overcome my addiction.

For instance, the more I stayed without smoking, the healthier I became. Smoking cessation

signified a step of growth, thus by beating off my addiction I increased my chances of

experiencing the highest level of the hierarchy of needs. However, the various challenges during

the withdrawal phase risked derailing my progress.

5. Counter motives

According to Treasure and Treasure (223) quitting smoking is partly dependent on the

level of motivation, for that reason, it is assumed that those people who successfully stop

smoking are characterized with high levels of motivation. The outcome of smoke cessation is

often affected by various "counter-motives." I recognized that my several attempts to quit

smoking failed not because I was less motivated than someone who successfully went through

the exercise. It meant that I had a higher level of nicotine dependence and as such, this gave me

the responsibility to try again and again. Nonetheless, it is significant that I recognize the initial

decision to quit depending on the level of motivation I possessed.

Besides, I did find it quite impossible to define what motivated me to stop smoking and

subsequently maintain cessation. The motivation to quit smoking varies between people, for

instance, my goal was to improve and maintain better physical health this is contrary to an

individual who was motivated by the need to save money. Before I stopped smoking, I did

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believe that I was far capable of doing so. To overcome the ‘counter-motives' I adopted the

concept of self-efficacy which aided my resolve to quit smoking.

6. Learning strategies

To support my smoking cessation, I adopted various psychological Behavior Change

strategies. These strategies involved specific actions that helped me to achieve and maintain

freedom from smoking. Before quitting I did consider the different strategies that would

effectively help me conquer my addiction, this helped me to determine the specific trigger targets

and routines or situations that led me to smoke. Adopting these strategies helped me understand

as a patient that craving to smoke is something that I could deal with and eventually become a

non-smoker. I was able to work with several people who have stopped smoking, and they helped

me develop and practice coping and behavior strategies helpful towards managing my cravings,

moods, coping with stress and so on. As well as being able to remain motivated to quit smoking.

I adopted various change strategies, for example, self-liberation which enabled me to

remain committed to achieving smoking cessation by developing a quit plan as well as

encouraging positive self-talk. Secondly, I adopted stimuli control, as a behavioral change I was

able to plan and avoid stimuli that elicited and supported smoking habits. For that reason, on my

final day, I made the initiative of throwing away all cigarette paraphernalia. Finally, I backed my

behavior change with counter conditioning strategies where I substituted my smoking behavior

with alternatives. Armitage and Arden (781) argue that distractive thinking, relaxation

techniques, abstinence from alcohol and other drugs, oral substitutes, exercise, and so on,

represent effective behavior change strategies towards the maintenance of smoking cessation.

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7. Emotional Barriers

Different emotional factors affected my ability to efficiently implement the behavior

change strategies that would help me quit smoking. These emotional factors included moods and

feelings, sensitivity to others, self-consciousness, decision making, among other issues (Treasure

& Treasure, 223). To deal with moods and feelings, I tried to control and express my emotions

the right way during the withdrawal phase; this helped me avoid the risk of getting into conflict

with others. Besides, I noticed that the more I stayed without smoking, the more my sensitivity to

others increased. As a result, I tried as much as I could to better understand the emotions of other

peoples so that to avoid misreading their intentions. Due to the withdrawal challenges, I was

faced with the challenge of self-consciousness where I compared my progress to that of other

individuals who had successfully gone through the process. Finally, my decision making failed

me at times, as I did find myself in situations that supported smoking. For that reason to avoid

such instances, I always reminded myself the consequences of my actions.

8. Outcomes

I feel proud of my behavior change as I have been able to quit smoking and maintain

cessation. I recognize that by stopping smoking, I reduced the risk of a heart attack as well as the

levels of carbon monoxide in my blood and improved my sense of smell and lung capacity.

Before quitting I did consider the various strategies that would effectively help me conquer my

addiction, this helped me to determine the specific trigger targets and routines or situations that

led me to smoke. However, to be more successful in future to support my behavior change I will

work on improving my decision making, as this will help me to avoid significant lapses. I will

support myself through engaging in “distractive thinking, relaxation techniques, abstinence from

alcohol and other drugs, oral substitutes, exercise, and so on” (Aveyard et al.)

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9. Summary

Through my experiment leading to the achievement of smoking cessation, I have learned

various valuable lessons. For example, quitting smoking has multiple advantages such as by I

rewired my brain subsequently breaking the addiction cycle, prevented the development of

emphysema, and helped in the return of cilia in my lungs. Besides, to stop smoking an individual

should adopt psychological Behavior Change strategies (Armitage & Arden, 798). These

strategies involve specific actions that helped one to achieve and maintain freedom from

smoking.

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Work Cited

Armitage, Christopher, and Arden, Madalyne. “How useful are the stages of change for targeting

interventions? A randomized test of a brief intervention to reduce smoking." Health

Psychology, vol. 27, no. 6, 2008, pp. 789-798 doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.27.6.789

Aveyard, P, et al. "The effect of Trans-theoretical Model-based interventions on smoking

cessation" Social Science & Medicine, 2008. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.10.036

McLeod, S. “Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.” Simply Psychology. 2017. Available at

https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

Treasure, Tom, and Janet Treasure. “Smoking Cessation.” BMJ: British Medical Journal, vol. 340,

no. 7740, 2010, pp. 223–224. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25673836

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