Cognitive reactions to smoking relapse: the reciprocal relation between dissonance and self-esteem.

Perceptions of health risk associated with smoking, commitment to quitting, and self-concept were assessed among smokers before, during, and after their participation in cessation clinics. Consistent with expectations derived from cognitive dissonance theory, results indicated that relapsers' perception of risk declined after they resumed smoking, although the decline was significant only for relapsers with high self-esteem; high self-esteem relapsers experienced a significantly greater decline in commitment to quitting than did low self-esteem relapsers; and decline in risk perception among relapsers was associated with maintenance of self-esteem. The implications of these results for dissonance theory and the study of smoking relapse and cessation are discussed.