Abstract Background: The cognitive dysfunction may be an important factor in smoking and nicotine abuse. However, there are very few studies that have examined the effects of psychiatric conditions on cognitive flexibility of smokers. Objectives: This research was conducted with the aim of examination the cognitive flexibility (perceive the controllability and cognitive alternatives) of smokers in the context of social anxiety. Material and methods: The research was a study with causal-comparative design. The population was all smoker students of Arak University in 2018-2019 years. For selecting the research sample the purposive sampling was used. At first, the participants completed the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) and Cognitive Flexibility Inventory (CFI). Then, based on the cutoff point scores of SPIN (19 to above), two smoker groups (n=30 in each group) were selected: smoker groups with and without social anxiety. Finally, these groups were compared in perceive the controllability and cognitive alternatives by Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). Results: The results indicated a significant difference in the liner composition of dependent variables of two groups (wilks, lambda= 0/799, F50,2= 6/726, p= 0/004). Univariate analysis of variance indicated that the smoker group with social anxiety had lower perceive the controllability and cognitive alternatives, compared to the smoker group without social anxiety. Conclusion: In general, the level of cognitive flexibility in smokers with and without social anxiety is different. Therefore, it is necessary to considering the evaluation and treatment of cognitive deficits in smokers based on their level of social anxiety.
