"I'm committed, not addicted.": College students' identity and communication about vaping.

Abstract

Objective: Vaping is a relatively new phenomenon, and trends in social vaping behaviors are developing. The current study describes and explains how communication surrounding vaping shapes different aspects of a college student's identity.

Participants: Twenty-seven male and female college students at a large Midwestern university were recruited to participate in five focus groups.

Methods: Focus group findings were interpreted through the lens of the communication theory of identity.

Results: College students' communication of identity was manifest in the personalization of vaping devices, selling vaping devices as a relational activity, the social aspects of vaping addiction, the facetious language surrounding vaping, and perceptions of vaping tricks as "cringe."

Conclusions: The findings revealed narrow perceptions of acceptable identities for users of vaping devices. Participants avoided labels of "being addicted" and leveraged discursive strategies such as humor, facetious language, othering, and re-framing behavior to fit a desirable identity.