Introduction to smoking culture at APU

Do Market research on “Why do some APU students smoke?”

Problem statement

The students of Asia Pacific University (APU) have a different and unique smoking culture, with which the world is unfamiliar. The smokers take pride of the culture, which they preserve. The university staffs oppose this smoking practice, as it is affecting the health of the non-smokers. Some of the students have expressed their opinions in favour of maintaining a non-smoking campus. The students have mutual understanding between them while smoking (Deliens et al. 2015). The non-smokers do not venture into the areas, where the students smoke. This smoking habit is a violation of the university rules and regulations. The statements of the university students reflect that they are aware of the harmful consequences of smoking. Smoking has stained the reputation of the university, spoiling the culture of education and cohesiveness within the students. This research would attempt to excavate the issues, which play a major role in influencing the APU students to smoke.

Research objectives

Based on the identified problems, the following objectives can be developed:

• To examine the factors, which influence the students of universities in Malaysia to smoke
• To find out whether the universities in Malaysia possess no-smoking zones
• To evaluate the flexibility of the policies, rules and regulations imposed on the students of the universities in Malaysia
• To assess the effectiveness of smoking etiquette campaigns within the campus of the universities in Malaysia.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

This theory assesses the situation of an individual within conflicting attitudes, behaviours and beliefs. The feeling of discomfort brings noticeable changes in the behaviour of the individuals. The effect of this alteration is varied on the culprit and the sufferer. However, the effort is to reduce the discomfort of the individuals and help him in restoring the lost balance (Harrell et al. 2015). Herein lays the appropriateness of the discussion on behavioural theory, through which the act of smoking can be assessed. Smoking is one of the behaviours of the people. When the people smoke in spite of knowing its harmful consequences, then they are deliberately exploiting the learnt skills.

One of the conditions of this theory is that the inner drives of the individuals compel them to live in harmony. This consists of the thoughts regarding preservation of the attitudes, believes and behaviours. Attitudes might change because of the individual sentiments of the person. The theory focuses on the fact that consistency in beliefs and attitudes helps in fighting with the scenarios, where the cognitions are inconsistent (Brose et al. 2015). The humans are presented with a choice regarding the environment in which they want to live. In case of the APU students, they would express their opinions in favour of smoking. Voicing out the opinions against the university norms would reflect the attempt altering the traditional integrity of the university.

Impact on university’s image and academic performance

Psychological variable

Smoking can be considered as a psychological variable. It is an activity, which has mixed reasons. Some of the people smoke for gaining energy to do challenging and enduring tasks. As a matter of specification, it is considered as a stress buster. However, in case of the students, smoking is an activity, which is performed for maintaining status, symbol. Some of the students are against smoking, which is an intervention into the freedom of the smokers (Littlefield et al. 2015). The students, who oppose the smokers, perceive it to be a disturbance in their educational establishment. Herein lays the appropriateness of ragging, which mentally affects the psyche of the students. Most of the students suffer from psychological issues, which seriously affect their concentration in studies. Religious views contradict smoking. Peer pressure and influences are perceived as an obstacle for the students towards the freedom of smoking.

Physiological model of addiction

Brain mechanisms are important in terms of understanding the circumstances, which compel the individuals towards addiction. Example can be cited of nicotine, which arises with the release of dopamine. The effects of nicotine are short-lived, which generates the feeling of craving and irritation just after the individuals quit smoking (Sutfin et al. 2015). Countering this, the universities in Malaysia are disinterested towards leaving smoking, which blurs the negative aspects of smoking.

From the theories, the following framework can be prepared:

Figure: Conceptual framework

(Source: Created by the author)

This framework has been developed from the propositions of the literature review. These propositions in turn help in preparation of the following hypothesis:

H0 Cognitive dissonance theory has positive impact on the smoking habits of APU students

H1 Smoking is a psychological variable, which adversely affects the education of the students

H2 Physiological model of addiction has a positive impact on the smoking of the APU students

Population and sample size

The whole population, who bears direct and indirect relationship with the report are the samples of the research. However, in order to complete the research within the stipulated time, a certain sample needs to be selected (Taylor, Bogdan and DeVault 2015). In this research, 50 students of Asia Pacific University would be selected for collecting data on their smoking habits.

For the efficient execution of the research, the researcher abides by certain sampling techniques- simple, random and probability. Simple and random techniques relate the selection of the samples without any calculations. On the other hand, probability-sampling technique is the collection method, which involves calculations regarding the proficiency of the samples towards the subject matter (Lewis 2015). Along with this, there are two other sampling techniques- structured and snowball. In the structured sampling technique, the researcher creates a subgroup before reaching the final sampling size. The selection of the final subject is done randomly, as the process is very time consuming. In the snowball technique, the existing subjects are asked to select the future subjects. In this research, the researcher would select probability-sampling technique. Experiments would be conducted on the APU students to find out their health conditions.

Cognitive dissonance and impact on student behavior

The data for a research is collected mainly through primary and secondary methods. Within these methods, there are subdivisions- quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative data is collected through surveys and interviews (Mackey and Gass 2015). On the other hand, qualitative data is collected through journal articles, newspapers and books, which have been published not older than 10 years. In this research, the data would be collected from journals, books, newspapers, which are not older than 10 years. Along with this, primary data would also be used for collecting data on the smoking habits of the students of Asia Pacific University.

This research would measure the reasons why some of the APU students smoke. This would be done through both the primary and secondary method (Silverman, 2016). In the primary method, the survey questionnaires would be prepared for measuring the extent to which the students can go for violating the university norms. 

The responses of the samples indicate that 35 out of 50 students are chain smokers. 10 out of 50 students rarely smoke and 5 students frequently smoke. The majority of the students are chain smokers, who expose negligent approach towards the discomfort of the other students. This negligent attitude attaches an interrogative parameter to the behaviour of the students. However, the immediate outcome is that the concentration is affected, which influences their performance. The students, who smoke rarely, are conscious about the discomfort of the other students. They utilize the smoking zones. This reflects their concentration on studies, which indicates the enhancement of their academic performance.

One of the other questions caters to the presence of smoking zone, which can be considered as adherence to the university norms. Most of the students responded that they have smoking zones, which they utilize. However, they have a stipulated time, when they visit these zones. This is under the supervision of the university staffs, which helps in averting the illegal instances. Herein lays the appropriateness of the policies like ethical code of conduct. Inspections are done by the Directors for ensuring the extent to which the students comply with the standards and protocols of the code.

Managerial benefits of the research

This research acts as a secondary source of information for the managers in terms of gaining an insight into the smoking habits of the candidates. The results would help the managers in making the workplace smoking free. However, in terms of the response provided by the students, the managers would be compelled to establish a smoking zone for the employees (Sutfin et al. 2015). However, conscious and rational approach is needed in terms of preserving the individual sentiments of the students. Mention can be made of Data Protection Act (1998), which would assist the managers in maintaining the privacy of the personal information of the students.

Psychological and social factors influencing smoking

Theories like cognitive dissonance and physiological models of addiction would make the managers aware of the staff behaviour. The proposition of the theories would enliven the process of counselling for the students in terms of controlling their smoking habits. As the students belong to different socio-cultural background, the managers can engage them into group discussions (Kenne et al. 2016.). This activity might generate adjusting skills and abilities within the students, enhancing the aspect of mutual understanding. This mutual understanding, in turn, would be effective in restoring the lost educative environment.

Research limitations

Every researcher attempts to produce an effective research. However, due to time and financial constraints, the researcher fails to meet all the criterions of the research. Due to the time constraints, the researcher is compelled to conduct only primary data and not secondary data. Due to financial constraints, the researcher fails to select more samples for an enriched data collection. Availability of adequate time would have assisted the researcher to conduct both qualitative and quantitative data (Taylor, Bogdan and DeVault 2015). Apart from this, the researcher would have collected data from the journals, articles and newspapers. This would have enhanced the knowledge of the researcher about the reasons why the university students smoke. This knowledge would have in turn assisted the researcher to clarify the knowledge of the readers about the harmful effects of the issue.

Conclusion

Smoking and the students does not go side by side. This is because smoking adversely affects the concentration of the students, which is harmful for their career establishment. However, some of the universities like Asia Pacific possess separate smoking zones for the students. This indicates preservation of the student’s freedom and rights along with the university norms. Researching the reasons why the students of the university smoke can be considered as attempt to drive them towards their educational establishment. Mention can be made of programs like SMiS, which proves effective in defining a better smoking ambience for the students. Here, the discomfort of the other students cannot be ignored. This discomfort spoils the educative environment. Moreover, the smoke aggravates the health issues of the students, who do not smoke. This perspective nullifies the need for the programs, even if they are flexible in catering to the demands of the students.

The need of the hour is to develop policies for controlling the behaviour of the students. Taking assistance from the experts would result in the achievement of positive outcomes. Meetings and conferences with the students and staffs would help the university staffs to discover effective means of negotiation. Uploading the survey and feedback forms in the website and social networking sites would help the university staffs to engage with large number of students and clients. Along with this, counselling sessions would prove helpful in gaining an insight into the reasons for which the students smoke. These sessions would enable the staffs in maintaining the privacy of the individual sentiments of the students. Maintenance of this privacy is crucial for gaining trust, loyalty and dependence from the students. This trust, in turn, is necessary for ensuring the wellbeing of the students. Inspection of the smoking areas is vital in terms of ensuring whether the students are making proper utilization of the provided resources, authority and liberty

References

Apu.ac.jp (2018). APU student circle “SMiS holds symposium on smoking. Available at: https://en.apu.ac.jp/home/news/article/?storyid=1353 [Accessed on 12^th June 2018]

Brose, L.S., Hitchman, S.C., Brown, J., West, R. and McNeill, A., 2015. Is the use of electronic cigarettes while smoking associated with smoking cessation attempts, cessation and reduced cigarette consumption? A survey with a 1?year follow?up. Addiction, 110(7), pp.1160-1168.

Deliens, T., Deforche, B., De Bourdeaudhuij, I. and Clarys, P., 2015. Determinants of physical activity and sedentary behaviour in university students: a qualitative study using focus group discussions. BMC Public Health, 15(1), p.201.

Harrell, P.T., Simmons, V.N., Piñeiro, B., Correa, J.B., Menzie, N.S., Meltzer, L.R., Unrod, M. and Brandon, T.H., 2015. E?cigarettes and expectancies: why do some users keep smoking?. Addiction, 110(11), pp.1833-1843.

Kenne, D.R., Mix, D., Banks, M. and Fischbein, R., 2016. Electronic cigarette initiation and correlates of use among never, former, and current tobacco cigarette smoking college students. Journal of Substance Use, 21(5), pp.491-494.

Lewis, S., 2015. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Health promotion practice, 16(4), pp.473-475.

Littlefield, A.K., Gottlieb, J.C., Cohen, L.M. and Trotter, D.R., 2015. Electronic cigarette use among college students: links to gender, race/ethnicity, smoking, and heavy drinking. Journal of American College Health, 63(8), pp.523-529.

Mackey, A. and Gass, S.M., 2015. Second language research: Methodology and design. Routledge.

Silverman, D. ed., 2016. Qualitative research. Sage.

Sutfin, E.L., Reboussin, B.A., Debinski, B., Wagoner, K.G., Spangler, J. and Wolfson, M., 2015. The impact of trying electronic cigarettes on cigarette smoking by college students: a prospective analysis. American journal of public health, 105(8), pp.e83-e89.

Taylor, S.J., Bogdan, R. and DeVault, M., 2015. Introduction to qualitative research methods: A guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons