For decades, researchers have used experimental methods to investigate why people smoke. Much of this work has focused on the pharmacological effects of nicotine ingestion and nicotine withdrawal, and it often is implied that these effects are invariant. This research has contributed to the characterization of smoking as a brain disease, and cigarette craving as an aversive motivational state. Recently, however, researchers have begun to reconsider these somewhat narrow characterizations, and they have called for an increased consideration of the context, or circumstances under which smoking occurs. In this presentation I will report findings from projects concerned with three contextual factors that may influence the desire to smoke or actual smoking: In Project 1, two intrapersonal factors (perceived opportunity to smoke and motivation to quit smoking) are examined, and in Project 2 an interpersonal factor (the presence of other smokers) is studied. Results provide preliminary support for the idea that neither desire to smoke nor smoking behavior are invariant responses to the ingestion of nicotine or to nicotine withdrawal. The presentation will conclude with a discussion of the implications of this work (e.g., reconsideration of craving, social context), and with suggestions for future laboratory research on cigarette smoking and context.