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The role of individualism-collectivism in influencing the motives for alcohol use was examined by comparing motives for drinking among 72 U.S. (individualist) and 83 Nigerian (collectivist) respondents in 1998. The study also examined the role of gender. The Drinking Motives Questionnaire (Cooper, M.L.; Russell. M.; Skinner. J.B.; Windle, M. Development and Validation of a Three-Dimensional Measure of Drinking Motives. Psychol. Assess. 1992, 4, 123-132.) that classifies drinking motives into coping. enhancement, and social motives was used. The U.S. respondents were hypothesized to score higher on coping motives and lower on social motives than Nigerian participants. This hypothesis was supported. Male respondents also scored higher than females on all the three motives. These results have implications for intervention approaches regarding alcohol use for people with differing cultural orientations.

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Tobacco use can lead to dependence, as indicated by withdrawal symptomatology during abstinence. In smokers, nicotine-free cigarettes suppress tobacco withdrawal, suggesting that non-nicotine stimuli may be relevant to tobacco dependence. This study examined non-nicotine factors in smokeless tobacco (SLT) withdrawal. SLT users used their own brand of SLT, nicotine-free SLT, or no SLT hourly in 3 approximately 4.5-hr sessions. Participant-rated measures of craving and desire to use SLT were elevated in the abstinence condition relative to the own-brand and nicotine-free conditions. Heart rate was significantly elevated in sessions in which participants' own brand was administered relative to the nicotine-free and abstinence conditions. These results support the notion that stimuli associated with tobacco use may have some withdrawal suppressing qualities, at least in the short term.

In this field experiment, the authors extended the severe threat of punishment paradigm to the honor system. Participants (N = 80) came from two small colleges that differ in the severity of threats of punishment for honor code violations. The authors placed participants in situations in which they came upon money that did not belong to them, in both public and private settings. Using the framework of insufficient justification, the authors hypothesized that participants from the military school, who face a severe threat of punishment for honor code violations, would be less likely to pick up the money in the public setting than in the private setting. The authors predicted that, in contrast, at the nonmilitary college, where students face only a mild threat of punishment for honor code violations, there would be no difference in how participants behaved across the two settings. The results supported both hypotheses. The authors discuss the implications of their findings for understanding and improving the nature of the punishment structure for honor systems.