Differential Social Learning Theory: Smoking

As a high school senior I began smoking. I was exposed to and observed smoking through my two of my girlfriends, one from my high school and once in college, from another girlfriend. My own learned definition of smoking came from my friends and my wanting to experiment. Between the ages of eleven and eighteen my mom and dad had asked me not to start smoking, but did I listen, no, I had to try it.

To many friends around me thought smoking was cool and a way to release stress.My imitation or differential association among my girlfriends who smoked Virginia Slims Menthols cigarettes is what started me smoking.The smell alone made me give into this undesireable habit. Yes, I wanted to imitate them. Who in high school did not want to imitate their friends?

As I picture myself back in high school and see myself today, it was never a forced position I put myself in. I have to say that smoking did not last long for me. The only reason I smoked was for the flavor of the cigarettes. I would smoke cloves too until I was told that cloves would make my lungs bleed or was in my lips and they were getting harder to find at our local liquor store anyway. For the life of me I could not figure out how to inhale cigarettes either.

Around my circle of friends, learning to smoke was something I found not so easy to do. The more I tried to inhale a cigarette, the harder it got for me. It could have been because I am not the most coordinated person and this is why I was not able to catch on.

My adventure in smoking ended right before my senior graduation. I guess you could have called me a social smoker too. My smoking career was short, but in that short time I was differentially reinforced through my friends. We only smoked out at their homes, at weekend parties and nightclubs in the Orange and Los Angeles Counties. I thought I was not out to prove anything to anyone, but it turns out my girlfriends always asked if I wanted to smoke with them. I could have said no, but I wanted to fit in with them. I mean, we only smoked on the weekends anyway when we drank alcohol. I guess you could call me a binge smoker/drinker.