Increased Risk of Suicidal Ideation in Smokers and Former Smokers Compared to Never Smokers: Evidence from the Baltimore ECA Follow‐Up Study

The incidence rate of suicidal ideation among current and former smokers versus never smokers is not known. In this study, the age‐adjusted incidence of suicidal ideation was highest among current smokers, followed by former, then never smokers. The adjusted hazard for suicide ideation was 2.22 (95%CI = 1.48, 3.33) and 1.19 (95%CI = 0.78, 1.82) for current and former smokers, respectively, compared to never smokers. Results indicate that current smokers have increased risks of suicidal ideation above and beyond the risk for never and former smokers regardless of age, gender, history of depressive disorder or anxiety symptoms, and alcohol abuse/dependence. Smoking cessation might be beneficial for some suicide prevention efforts.     

Non-compromise extreme effect: Attribute discriminability and preference for an extreme alternative

In this research, we show that despite a choice set configuration that promotes the compromise effect, consumers do not always prefer the middle alternative but rather choose the extreme option when one of the attributes has higher discriminability than the other. We use findings from the numerical cognition literature to demonstrate why this happens and, more importantly, provide a novel theoretical framework for what we call the “non-compromise extreme effect.” The findings are unique to the compromise effect literature, which has consistently shown the effect to be robust. More importantly, the findings show that a brand can successfully compete with a well-established competitor when it performs better on the low performing attribute, which gives a leeway to managers to take share away from the competitor.