The nonpecuniary effects of smoking cessation: happier smokers smoke less

Abstract

The objective of this article is to describe the relationship between past changes in daily cigarette consumption and happiness using a national longitudinal panel survey. Data from 724 smokers who participated in the first 11 waves of the British Household Panel Survey were analysed using a fixed effects regression model. An increase in daily smoking frequency corresponded with a decrease in happiness ( = -0.004, 95% confidence interval -0.006 to -0.001). Independent of this relationship, happiness decreased as health deteriorated with a transition to the poorest health group associated with greatest unhappiness ( = -0.190, 95% confidence interval -0.258 to -0.123) followed by those in the next poorest health group ( = 0.114, 95% confidence interval -0.176 to -0.051) and as health improved further, the effect on happiness diminished ( = -0.077, 95% confidence interval -0.127 to -0.027) indicating a dose-repose relationship between health and happiness. Smokers who reduce cigarette consumption can expect greater happiness in a relationship that is not mediated by changes in health. This relationship is interpreted as cigarettes showing reference dependence