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Background: Smoking rationalisation beliefs are a huge barrier to quitting smoking. What types of rationalisations should be emphasised in smoking cessation interventions? Although past literature has confirmed the negative relationship between those beliefs and motivation to stop smoking, little is known regarding the importance and performance of those beliefs on motivation with varying cigarette dependence. The study aimed to ascertain rationalisations that are highly important for motivation yet perform poorly in different cigarette dependence groups. Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted from November 19 to December 9, 2023 in Guiyang City, China. Adult male current smokers were enrolled. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesis. The multi-group analysis was used to determine the moderating effect of cigarette dependence, and the importance-performance map analysis was utilised to assess the importance and performance of rationalisations. Results: A total of 616 adult male current smokers were analysed, and they were divided into the low cigarette dependence group (n = 297) and the high cigarette dependence group (n = 319). Except for risk generalisation beliefs, smoking functional beliefs (H1: -β = 0.131, P < 0.01), social acceptability beliefs (H3: β = -0.258, P < 0.001), safe smoking beliefs (H4: β = -0.078, P < 0.05), self-exempting beliefs (H5: β = -0.244, P < 0.001), and quitting is harmful beliefs (H6: β = -0.148, P < 0.01) all had a significant positive influence on motivation. Cigarette dependence moderated the correlation between rationalisations and motivation. In the high-dependence group, the social acceptability beliefs and smoking functional beliefs were located in the "Concentrate Here" area. In the low-dependence group, the social acceptability beliefs were also situated in there. Conclusions: Social acceptability beliefs and smoking functional beliefs showed great potential and value for improvement among high-dependence smokers, while only social acceptability beliefs had great potential and value for improvement among low-dependence smokers. Addressing these beliefs will be helpful for smoking cessation. The multi-group analysis and the importance-performance map analysis technique have practical implications and can be expanded to other domains of health education and intervention practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]