Table 3 Students’ normative beliefs of waterpipe smoking and the difference between high and low WPS dependence groups (n = 746)

Successful people smoke

 Yes

219 (29.4%)

179 (81.7%)

40 (18.3%)

< 0.001

 No

525 (70.6%)

337 (64.2%)

188 (35.8%)

Cool people smoke

 Yes

266 (35.8%)

200 (75.2%)

66 (24.8%)

0.010

 No

477 (64.2%)

315 (66.0%)

162 (34.0%)

Rich people smoke

 Yes

226 (30.4%)

165 (73.0%)

61 (27.0%)

0.153

 No

518 (69.6%)

351 (67.8%)

167 (32.2%)

My idols smoke

 Yes

225 (30.2%)

171 (76.0%)

54 (24.0%)

0.011

 No

519 (69.8%)

346 (66.7%)

173 (33.3%)

My family sees WPS as a bad habit

 Yes

584 (78.7%)

400 (68.5%)

184 (31.5%)

0.299

 No

158 (21.3%)

115 (72.8%)

43 (27.2%)

My friends see WPS as a bad habit

 Yes

252 (33.8%)

158 (62.7%)

94 (37.3%)

0.004

 No

494 (66.2%)

360 (72.9%)

134 (27.1%)

Perceived WPS in Palestine

 Normal

51 (6.8%)

40 (78.4%)

11 (26.6%)

0.255

 High

144 (19.3%)

103 (71.5%)

41 (28.5%)

 Very high

551 (73.9%)

375 (68.1%)

176 (31.9%)

Perceived WPS in their cities

 Normal

76 (10.2%)

53 (69.7%)

23 (30.3%)

0.782

 High

125 (16.8%)

90 (72.0%)

35 (28.0%)

 Very high

545 (73.0%)

375 (68.8%)

170 (31.2%)

Perceived WPS in their universities

 Normal

82 (11.0%)

62 (75.6%)

20 (24.4%)

0.426

 High

173 (23.2%)

120 (69.4%)

53 (30.6%)

 Very high

491 (65.8%)

336 (68.4%)

155 (31.6%)

Perceived WPS in their surroundings

 Normal

128 (17.2%)

93 (72.7%)

35 (27.3%)

0.317

 High

209 (28.0%)

137 (65.6%)

72 (34.4%)

 Very high

409 (54.8%)

288 (70.4%)

121 (29.6%)