How do self-exempt beliefs affect intentions to quit smoking? An exploration of the mediating role of threat appraisal and coping appraisal

Introduction: Numerous smokers are cognizant of the detrimental effects associated with this habit yet exhibit a persistent reluctance to cease their tobacco consumption. Self-exempt beliefs serve as an obstacle to the cessation of this addictive behavior. This research explored the impact of self-exempt beliefs on the readiness to quit smoking based on the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) model and the mediating roles of threat appraisal and coping appraisal.

Methods: Self-exempt beliefs, PMT constructs, and the intention to quit smoking constituted the theoretical model. The questionnaires were collected from 488 Chinese adult male smokers based on snowball sampling. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was used to examine the underlying factor structure of the pre-designed self-exempt beliefs scale. The reliability, validity, path coefficients, and explanatory power of the model were calculated using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM).

Results and discussion: The results showed that : (1) three common factors (skeptic beliefs, bulletproof beliefs, and "worth it" beliefs) with a total of 11 items were retained after EFA; (2) skeptic beliefs and "worth it" beliefs had a significantly negative effect on both threat appraisal and coping appraisal, while bulletproof beliefs did not; (3) bulletproof beliefs had a significantly positive direct impact on intention to quit, "worth it" beliefs had a significantly negative direct impact on intention, while skeptic beliefs had no significantly direct impact on intention; (4) threat appraisal and coping appraisal positively and significantly predicted cessation intention; and (5) threat appraisal and coping appraisal, as two main cognitive processes, acted as full mediations between skeptic beliefs and the intention to quit, as complementary partial mediations between "worth it" beliefs and the intention, and as non-mediation between bulletproof beliefs and the intention. Our findings suggest that efforts to undermine or "prevent" these self-exempt beliefs, particularly "worth it" and skeptic beliefs, may be an effective tactic for health communication interventions for quitting smoking.