Abstract
Methods
Data come from 2,166 Muslim Malaysian and 2,463 Buddhist Thai adult smokers who participated in the first three waves of the
International Tobacco Control Southeast Asia project. Respondents were followed up about 18 months later with replenishment.
Respondents were asked at baseline about whether their society disapproved of smoking and whether their religion discouraged
smoking, and those recontacted at follow-up were asked about their quitting activity.
International Tobacco Control Southeast Asia project. Respondents were followed up about 18 months later with replenishment.
Respondents were asked at baseline about whether their society disapproved of smoking and whether their religion discouraged
smoking, and those recontacted at follow-up were asked about their quitting activity.
Results
Majority of both religious groups perceived that their religion discouraged smoking (78% Muslim Malaysians and 86% Buddhist
Thais) but considerably more Buddhist Thais than Muslim Malaysians perceived that their society disapproved of smoking (80%
versus 25%). Among Muslim Malaysians, religious, but not societal, norms had an independent effect on quit attempts. By contrast,
among the Buddhist Thais, while both normative beliefs had an independent positive effect on quit attempts, the effect was
greater for societal norms. The two kinds of normative beliefs, however, were unrelated to quit success among those who tried.
Thais) but considerably more Buddhist Thais than Muslim Malaysians perceived that their society disapproved of smoking (80%
versus 25%). Among Muslim Malaysians, religious, but not societal, norms had an independent effect on quit attempts. By contrast,
among the Buddhist Thais, while both normative beliefs had an independent positive effect on quit attempts, the effect was
greater for societal norms. The two kinds of normative beliefs, however, were unrelated to quit success among those who tried.
Conclusions
The findings suggest that religious norms about smoking may play a greater role than secular norms in driving behaviour change
in an environment, like Malaysia where tobacco control has been relatively weak until more recently, but, in the context of
a strong tobacco control environment like Thailand, secular norms about smoking become the dominant force.
in an environment, like Malaysia where tobacco control has been relatively weak until more recently, but, in the context of
a strong tobacco control environment like Thailand, secular norms about smoking become the dominant force.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Pages 1-7
- DOI 10.1007/s12529-012-9225-6
- Authors
- Hua-Hie Yong, The Cancer Council Victoria, 1 Rathdowne Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia
- Steven Savvas, National Ageing Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
- Ron Borland, The Cancer Council Victoria, 1 Rathdowne Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia
- James Thrasher, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
- Buppha Sirirassamee, Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
- Maizurah Omar, National Poison Centre, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia
- Journal International Journal of Behavioral Medicine
- Online ISSN 1532-7558
- Print ISSN 1070-5503