How warnings that cigarettes kill can make you smoke MORE (to help cope with the idea of your death)

She didn't get the memo: An unidentified woman who has become an internet hit after being photographed lighting a cigarette from her 100th birthday cake

Health warnings reminding people that cigarettes can kill may actually cause smokers to light up more often to help cope with the inevitability of death, scientists have said.
Warnings unrelated to death, on the other hand - such as 'smoking makes you unattractive' - were far more effective in prompting smokers to drop the habit, the study by psychologists from the U.S., Switzerland and Germany revealed.

This was especially the case in people who smoked to boost their self-esteem, like teenagers hoping it would make them appear cool, the researchers said.
'In general, when smokers are faced with death-related anti-smoking messages on cigarette packs, they produce active coping attempts as reflected in their willingness to continue the risky smoking behaviour,' the study said.
'To succeed with anti-smoking messages on cigarette packs one has to take into account that considering their death may make people smoke.'
The study was based on 39 psychology students, aged between 17 and 41, who said they were smokers.
Participants filled in a questionnaire to determine how much their smoking was based on self-esteem.
Then they were shown cigarette packs with different warnings on them.
After a 15-minute delay, the students were asked more questions about their smoking behaviour - including if they intended to quit.
'One the one hand, death-related warnings were not effective and even ironically caused more positive smoking attitudes among smokers who based their self-esteem on smoking,' the study said.
'On the other hand, warning messages that were unrelated to death effectively reduced smoking attitudes the more recipients based their self-esteem on smoking.'
The researchers said this finding can be explained by the fact that warnings such as 'smoking makes you unattractive' may be particularly threatening to people who smoke to boost their self-esteem.
The study was published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.