Young adulthood is a critical transition period for cigarette use (Bachman, Wadsworth, O��Malley, Johnston, & Schulenberg, 1997; Chen & Kandel, 1995; Everett, Husten, et al., 1999; Everett, Warren, et al., 1999; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1994), often involving escalation in smoking (Orlando, Tucker, Ellickson, & Klein, 2004) selleck kinase inhibitor or late-onset smoking (Chassin, Presson, Pitts, & Sherman, 2000). Roughly 30% of youth who initiate cigarette smoking will become daily smokers (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2006). In 2006, the rate of current smoking (��1 cigarette in the past 30 days) for those aged 18�C25 years was 35.6%�C40.2% (Doll, Peto, Boreham, & Sutherland, 2004), including a rate of 28.4% among college students (Doll et al., 2004).

However, only half of current smokers in the young adult population smoke regularly (i.e., ��25 of the past 30 days; Doll et al., 2004), and roughly half are ��social smokers�� (Moran, Wechsler, & Rigotti, 2004). Unfortunately, nondaily and social smokers may discount personal health consequences (Luoto, Uutela, & Puska, 2000; Moran et al., 2004; Rollins, Malmstadt Schumacher, & Ling, 2002; Woolcock, Peat, Leeder, & Blackburn, 1984), regardless of the fact that nondaily smoking is associated with increased adverse respiratory conditions and other health problems (An et al., 2009; Woolcock et al., 1984). Over half of college students do not consider themselves to be smokers despite having smoked in the previous 30 days (Berg et al., 2009; Levinson et al., 2007).

This highlights the fact that there is great variation in how current smokers self-identify as smokers. The way people categorize smoking behaviors may be conceptualized as a schema, a mental framework centering on a specific theme that helps us to organize social information (Bartlett, 1932). People use schemas to organize current knowledge and provide a framework for future understanding. Schema can be applied to oneself, which are then called a ��self-schema,�� or to others, which are then called ��person schemata.�� In the case of smoking, while many people engage in the act of smoking, their schema of a smoker may not align with their behavior, and thus, they may be less likely to perceive harm in their behavior or be inclined to change it (Berg et al., 2009, 2010).

Despite the importance of understanding individual schemas regarding what constitutes a smoker, very little research has been conducted on this cognitive aspect of smoking behavior or Batimastat sociodemographic and smoking-related factors related to this phenomena. In prior research (Berg et al., 2009; Levinson et al., 2007), some factors have been identified as important in terms of whether college students identified themselves as smokers. For example, less frequent smoking (Berg et al., 2009; Levinson et al., 2007), being younger (Berg et al., 2009; Levinson et al.