(This is a reflective paper I turned to my teacher for Psychology 223 : Motivation and Emotion in Daily Life, at Concordia)
Analysis of my motivation to stay smoke-free
My first inhaled cigarette was in 1989. I was the only one in a group of friends that didn’t smoke. I could say that I succumbed to peer pressure but I have to admit that I have personality traits associated with addiction (Ball, 2005). Impulsive like I was, I certainly demonstrated its “two components towards addiction: heightened sensitivity to rewards and a lack of foresight and planning, thus less aware of any negative consequences of drug use” (Dawe et al., 2004). I just wanted to look cool and be part of the gang. I didn’t care about what it would do to my health and I certainly didn’t think about the fact that I would get addicted to nicotine for so long. After more than 20 years, December 1st 2010 marks my 9-month anniversary for being smoke-free. I’ve had one attempt to quit before this one. I consider this time to not as quitting but as becoming smoke-free. Differently from my attempt 7 years earlier, I don’t have just a goal but I truly have a strong motivation but to change my lifestyle.
“Goals are portrayed as larger and more important in scope than incentives.” I am totally changing my lifestyle and habits to get rid of my addiction. I changed where I hang out and with who, for example. “Second, goals are usually more complex than incentives and have both positive and negative features to be approached and avoided, respectively.” The obvious positive feature is to be healthier, not stink, not be restraint in my outings and my activities, and another is saving money. For two decades my “body habituated to the effects of a drug because of repeated experience” (Griffiths et al., 1980). Consequently being a seasoned smoker, quitting has its withdrawal effects and I was aware that I would “experience a set of negative symptoms, including irritability, restlessness, anxiety, depression, hostility, difficulty concentrating, and hunger” (Fishbein & Pease, 1996). “Third, goals involve the cognitive realm of motivation.” Daily, I evaluate the worth of being smoke-free, I see where it stands and reformulate, if needed, my plans in continuing to succeed. I’m faced with temptation all the time, so I need to remind myself my drives. “Fourthly, a person’s goals are usually one-time events that will not be repeated.” Becoming a non-smoker invokes that I will never need to pursuit my present goal again. “Fifth, incentives can serve as assists toward the achievement of a goal.” There are several incentives that assist in the realization of my goal, like being more socially acceptable. They correspond to several needs identifiable throughout Manslow’s hierarchy of needs where by satisfying several tiers in a hierarchical fashion, it gets easier to attain my ultimate goal.
I’ll do a quick overview with statements for each tiers of Manslow’s hierarchy of needs which are: physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization. Evidently, my physical well-being belongs to the first tier: getting rid of the numbnest at the tips of my fingers, going up stairs without being out of breathe, and not have a cigarette as a crotch to bring down my levels of stress. As for Safety and Security, not being a smoker lowers fire risk in my close environment. Not to feel socially isolated because I smoked, is related to the Belonging tier. Under the Esteem tier, being confident of my physical capacities, and not worry of what people think about me fall in it. My ultimate goal is to have control over my addiction, to have the power to improve myself, and that I am growing as a person. Those are Self-actualization statements.
By weighing every aspects of my motivation to stay smoke-free, I feel my need to achieve (Ms) is stronger than my need to avoid failure (Maf). Considering that Maf “is characterized by anxiety and fear about failing the task” , my attempt in 2003 compared to today was filled with anxiety and fear about not being to quit smoking. I was always asking myself “what if I can’t” and that inhibited me from achieving my goal. I wasn’t seeing myself being a non-smoker like I am presently. When I decided to quit last March, I wasn’t afraid, I was excited and happily anxious “to engage in task-oriented behaviors” , like going to gym, and drinking tea after meals to name a few.
My environment, my social and personal settings between 2003 and 2010 are totally different. “Personality traits refer to the consistency in a specific set of behaviors across time and across relevant situations. A trait is also defined by the relationship among different behavioral habits” I still seek strong sensations today, same trait as in 1989, but my trait’s factors are different. My level of seeking thrill and adventure isn’t as strong if the risk involves my health. My experience seeking doesn’t concern anymore drugs of any type. Cigarettes apart from alcohol and caffeine, is the last psychoactive drug I want out of my system. Through the disinhibition factor, I have engaged in multiple hedonic pursuits in my late teens and early twenties, like drinking, partying, and sexual activity. Since my late twenties, I prefer to concentrate on what will prolong my life so I can continue pursuing the experiences, the thrills and the adventures but in a healthier fashion. For the last few years, I concentrate on traveling, creating, studying, eating and living.
To live, smoking cigarettes has no place. I was a smoker for too long. By understanding what goals truly are, I strengthen my motivations to stay smoke-free. While examining and satisfying tiers of needs, explained by Manslow’s hierarchy of needs in an orderly fashion, I fortify my incentives which help to maintain my goal. This is the second time I quit smoking but it’s the first time that I succeed staying smoke-free. Lastly, studying my motive to succeed which is stronger that my motive to avoid failure, and dissecting and breaking down my personality trait of sensation seeking just make my goal easier to sustain.
Analyzing myself is an adventure that doesn’t cease to amaze me. I would like to quote the American philosopher and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson (1842): “All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.”
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References
BALL, S.A. (2005). Personality traits, problems, and disorders: Clinical applications to substance use disorders. Journal of Research in Personality, 39, 84-102.
DAWE, S., Gullo, M.J. & Loxton, N.J. (2004). Reward drive and rash impulsiveness as dimensions of impulsivity: Implications for substances misuse. Addictive Behaviors, 29. 1389-1405.
DECKERS, L. (2010). Motivation: Biological, psychological, and environmental, 3rd Edition. (pp. 187, 191, 211, 263). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
FISHBEIN, D.H. & Pease, S.E. (1996). The dynamics of drug abuse. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
GRIFFITHS, R.R., Bigelow, G.E., & Heningfield, J.E. (1980). Similarities in animal and human drugtaking behavior. In N.K. Mello (Ed.), Advances in substance abuse: Behavioral and biological research (pp. 1-90). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
