A former boss had long nurtured a corner office dream: She’d fancy herself in the boss chair, legs up, crossed on top of the table, cigarette in hand. That, for her, had been the ultimate vision of power. Unfortunately, or rather fortunately, for her, she found her corner office at the same time as the famous October 2 smoking ban found all offices. The irony: She wasn’t even a smoker. She’d only seen it in film and on TV, and it had left an impact on her. An impact enough for her to consider taking up smoking when she took over the helm at an organisation.
This is exactly what fourth-hand smoke does — watching friends, colleagues, relatives, even actors on screen smoke, makes smoking ‘the cool thing’.
A study, published by BioMed Central Public Health, New Zealand, carried out a visual mapping of smoking in outdoor bars and cafés across Wellington City, and concluded that the high incidence of smoking led to normalising the behaviour and making it socially acceptable, thereby encouraging younger people to take up smoking and reducing the likelihood of smokers quitting or even attempting to quit. Fourth-hand smoke comes to you through various agents.
The screen idol
“In movies and TV shows that were made in or are set in the 60s, 70s and 80s, smoking was associated with ‘the boss lifestyle’,” says Mansi Poddar, a Kolkata-based psychotherapist. “There was always the suave guy, in his sharp suits and cigarette dangling at the lip, or the sexy siren, with her manicured hands, holding a cigarette. Smoking comes through as a symbol of glamour and adds to the desirability quotient.” And that’s really what it all comes down to. We want to be seen in the same light as we see these on-screen personae — rich, beautiful, charismatic, powerful.
A study by the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit, published by the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, University of California, San Francisco, US, found that during the 10-year research period, in Ontario alone, 1,85,000 children and teens were “recruited to cigarette smoking by their exposure to on-screen smoking”. Says Dr Samir Parikh, Director — Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences, Fortis Healthcare, Delhi, “To this end, the statutory warning against smoking that is now mandatory for films and shows in India, is absolutely necessary. When smoking is cool on screen, it gives the same message, and to convey an opposite message, at the same time, is important. It may not eventually be effective, but it does act as a deterrent — it makes you think twice before lighting up.”
The peer group
We’re talking peer pressure of a different kind. This is not where your friends sit you down and urge you to ‘try one’. In fact, these friends haven’t offered you even half a puff. Instead, they’ve traipsed off for a ‘smoke break’, without so much as asking you, which has got you feeling left out. “When it comes to your peers, fourth-hand smoke works at various levels,” says Poddar. “For one, there is the idea that it helps manage stress — statements such as ‘OMG, I need a smoke’ send the message that the other person may have found a way to escape the stress you both may be going through, at that point in time.”
Then, there is the notion of cliques, which is especially threatening in a work environment. “A non-smoker sees the smoking lot take off for extended smoke breaks, which are often seen as a bonding activity, and begins to feel like he/she is missing out. So they take to smoking, to feel that sense of belonging, and also so that they may be privy to some of the office gossip that may or may not affect them.” ‘Friendly’ fourth-hand smoke is even worse for those who’ve quit or are trying to kick the butt. “Watching your friends and colleagues smoke acts as a trigger and affects you worse if you’re in a slightly precarious situation — if you’re going through a break-up or are having a tough time at work,” adds Poddar. “A shaky, emotional situation sends all negative messages out the window and makes you that much more susceptible to lighting up.”
The role model
Your favourite actor, your favourite sportsperson, or even your favourite aunt… If you adore and admire them enough, you want to be them, you want to wear what they wear, you want to do what they do, even if it’s wreaking havoc on your body. “The more important a person is to somebody, the stronger the impact of them smoking,” says Dr Parikh. “Children and teens are the most easily affected. Smoking is a learned behaviour. Watching your role model smoke decent-ises and dis-inhibits, thereby normalising the behaviour. Whatever negative messages you may have received, regarding smoking, get reversed when you see a role model smoke — you will want to imitate them.”
While your older sibling or aunt may never realise that you aim to emulate them, Dr Parikh insists that those in the public domain, celebrities who know that they are role models, need to be more conscious of the messages they send out. “For every SRK who, even if inadvertently, glorifies smoking, we need a few Rahul Dravids who condemn it.”
