Into the gray area: Exploring smoking perceptions among young adults in Jakarta, Indonesia

Jessica Prathiwi

Indonesia is one of the world's five largest consumers of tobacco. This ranking is supported largely by tobacco consumption among young adults. An understanding of young adults' perceptions of smoking leads to understanding of local tobacco use. Because culture affects communication and communication affects culture, the reverse is similarly true; understanding local tobacco use also lends understanding to how and why local perceptions of smoking (and the lifestyles that are associated with smoking) are created, maintained, and/or contested. Thus, guided by a culture-centered perspective that aims to privilege the point of view of communities being studied rather than those of outside researchers, this study utilized nineteen in-depth semi-structured interviews with males and females participants between the ages of 18 and 24 in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2011 to answer three research questions (RQ1: What are the perceptions of smoking among youth in Indonesia, RQ2: What is the relationship between these perceptions and their smoking behaviors, RQ3: Given the relationship between the youth's perceptions of smoking and their smoking behaviors, what culture-centered solutions, if any, can be suggested to reduce smoking in Indonesia). The 275 pages of interview data were analyzed using interpretive framework in order to find themes, worldviews, values and norms that influenced these young adults' perceptions of smoking behavior. Emerging themes were organized by levels of social influence. Themes at the micro level include "health effects of cigarettes are exaggerated" and "cigarettes are cheap." Themes at the mezzo level include "social environment" (divided into: "peer modeling" and "peer pressure"), "cigarettes are good for the economy," and "the government cannot regulate cigarette use." At the macro level, the most prominent theme is the "difference in age and gender norms." Worldviews, values and norms that emerged include fatalism, masculinity, locus of control, legality, and naturalism. Implications from the findings will be beneficial to understand initial talking points for future culture-centered health communication approach.

Into the gray area: Exploring smoking perceptions among young adults in Jakarta, Indonesia

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