The discouragement of smoking in a hospital setting: the importance of modeled behavior.

The present study looked at the importance of modeled behavior of hospital employees on the smoking behavior of patients and visitors. A high status model meant to resemble a medical doctor and a "peer" model meant to resemble a patient smoked in the presence of patients and visitors waiting in a no smoking area. The results clearly show an increased smoking rate among subjects when models smoked, with women slightly more influenced to smoke than men. No significant difference was found between models. The findings tend to support the importance of health personnel, particularly doctors, refraining from smoking in the presence of patients.