Background and purpose: Irrational beliefs are among the factors affecting the tendency to use tobacco. Today, there is a growing trend of waterpipe (hookah) smoking among the youth in Iran. This study aimed at comparing irrational beliefs among young adult hookah smokers and young athletes.

Materials and methods: This descriptive study was conducted in 600 individuals who were selected using stratified random sampling, in Zahedan, Iran, 2015. The participants included 300 hookah smokers in traditional teahouses and 300 individuals attending bodybuilding gyms. Data collection was performed using the Jones’ Irrational Beliefs Test (IBT).

Results: The mean ages of the young hookah smokers and athletes were 23±6 and 22±2 years, respectively. The results of MANOVA test indicated a statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of all irrational beliefs. Accordingly, the mean score of irrational beliefs score in the hookah smokers was much higher than that of the young athletes (F=71.42, Wilks lambda=0.452, P=0.00).

Conclusion: Irrational beliefs are believed to be amongst the main factors affecting the tendency of young people to smoke hookah.