Structural or dispositional? An experimental investigation of the experience of winning in social casino games (and impulsivity) on subsequent gambling behaviors

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: In the present research, we experimentally investigated whether the experience of winning (i.e., inflated payout rates) in a social casino game influenced social casino gamers' subsequent decision to gamble for money. Furthermore, we assessed whether facets of dispositional impulsivity - negative and positive urgency in particular - also influenced participants' subsequent gambling. METHODS: Social casino gamers who were also current gamblers (N = 318) were asked to play a social casino game to assess their perceptions of the game in exchange for $3. Unbeknownst to them, players were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: winning (n = 110), break-even (n = 103), or losing (n = 105). After playing, participants were offered a chance to gamble their$3 renumeration in an online roulette game. RESULTS: A total of 280 participants (88.1%) elected to gamble, but no between-condition variation in the decision to gamble emerged. Furthermore, there were no differences in gambling on the online roulette between condition. However, higher levels of both negative and positive urgency increased the likelihood of gambling. Finally, impulsivity did not moderate the re

Placing your faith on the betting floor: Religiosity predicts disordered gambling via gambling fallacies

Background and aims: We examined the potential role religious beliefs may play in disordered gambling. Specifically, we tested the idea that religiosity primes people to place their faith in good fortune or a higher power. In the context of gambling, however, this may lead to gambling fallacies (e.g., erroneous beliefs that one has control over a random outcome). People who are high in religiosity may be more at risk of developing gambling fallacies, as they may believe that a higher power can influence a game of chance. Thus, this research investigated the relationship between religiosity and gambling problems and whether gambling fallacies mediated this relationship. Methods: In Study 1, we recruited an online sample from Amazon's Mechanical Turk to complete measures that assessed the central constructs (religiosity, disordered gambling, and gambling fallacies). In Study 2, we conducted a secondary analysis of a large data set of representative adults (N = 4,121) from a Canadian province, which contained measures that assessed the constructs of interest. Results: In Study 1, religiosity significantly predicted gambling problem. Conversely, there was no direct relationship between religiosity and gambling in Study 2. Importantly, a significant indirect effect of religiosity on disordered gambling severity through gambling fallacies was found in both studies, thus establishing mediation. The results remained the same when controlling for age, gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status for both studies. Discussion and conclusion: These findings suggest religiosity and its propensity to be associated wit

Who Spends Money to Play for Free? Identifying Who Makes Micro-transactions on Social Casino Games (and Why)

Social casino games are online gambling-like games found on social networking sites. They are initially free to play, however, players are encouraged to make micro-transactions (i.e., in-game purchases) for additional game credits or functionality. As a result, they generate billions of dollars in revenue. Yet, little is known as to who purchases virtual credits, let alone why. In the present research, we assessed whether there are individual differences (impulsivity, reward sensitivity, competitiveness, and problem gambling severity) between who is and who is not likely to make micro-transactions during social casino game play. Moreover, we examined possible motivations for making micro-transactions (e.g., extend play, win back lost credits) and whether the individual difference variables of interest predict reported motivation(s) for making micro-transactions. Results showed that social casino gamers who engaged in micro-transactions reported significantly higher levels of impulsivity, reward sensitivity and problem gambling severity, but not competitiveness. In terms of motivation to make micro-transactions, desire to extend play was endorsed most frequently, followed by a desire to access additional features, chasing lost credits, and to speed up play. Lastly, among participants who made micro-transactions, reward sensitivity predicted making micro-transactions to chase lost credits. These results suggest the personality make-up of social casino gamers is important to understand who is likely to make micro-transactions as well as their motivation to do so—information that could prove useful for regulation of the industry

In the mindset for change: Self-reported quit attempts are a product of discontinuity-induced nostalgia and incremental beliefs

Despite the low rate of behavior change among those engaged in addictive behaviors, some people can and do initiate change. We propose that attempting to self-regulate addictive behavior is a function of motivation and the belief that behavior is malleable. Specifically, feeling self-discontinuous (i.e., feeling that addiction has fundamentally changed the self) should motivate change by inducing nostalgia for the pre-addicted self. Importantly, we expected that discontinuity-induced nostalgia would only be associated with an attempted change among those who believe that behavior is malleable (i.e., incremental theorists). To test this moderated-mediation model, we recruited a community sample of disordered gamblers (N = 243) to assess self-reported change attempts over time. During the initial session, participants completed measures of self-discontinuity, nostalgia, and implicit theories of behavior. Three months later, participants (N = 120) reported whether they attempted to change their gambling behavior, as well as the method and extent to which they sustained this change. As expected, discontinuity-induced nostalgia was positively associated with an increased likelihood of self-reporting a change attempt, but only when behavior was believed to be malleable, rather than fixed. As very few disordered gamblers take action, these findings suggest novel psychological processes to promote positive behavior change

Embedded disruption: Facilitating responsible gambling with persuasive systems design

Principles of Persuasive Systems Design (PSD) have been implemented in various applications designed to promote attitude or behaviour change. In order to facilitate responsible gambling, current practices call for gamblers to preset monetary limits and adhere to them. In this study, PSD principles were combined with a "just-in-time" embedded disruption in order to facilitate adherence to preset monetary limits in online gambling. A user-centred design process, including focus groups and a heuristic evaluation, was employed to define needs and requirements, and evaluate the tool. A lab study with a virtual casino showed that the embedded disruption tool was associated with more players quitting when they reached their preset monetary limit compared with the current monetary limit tool, demonstrating the principle of embedded disruption is effective

Economic mobility moderates the effect of relative deprivation on financial gambling motives and disordered gambling

This study examined whether a positive association between personal relative deprivation and disordered gambling severity is mediated by the motivation to gamble for financial gain. We hypothesized that this would occur specifically among people who perceived a low personal capacity for upward economic mobility via conventional means of advancement. A sample of community gamblers (N = 196) completed measures of personal relative deprivation, perceptions about upward economic mobility, gambling motivations (financial, coping, enhancement and social) and disordered gambling severity. The predicted moderated mediation model was observed – among people who perceived a low capacity for upward economic mobility, relative deprivation predicted disordered gambling severity via the motivation to gamble for financial gain. This indirect effect did not hold among people who perceived a high capacity for upward mobility. These findings suggest the importance of addressing beliefs about upward economic mobility in gambling prevention and intervention strategies. Among gamblers who feel relatively deprived, it may be advantageous to highlight feasible avenues for upward economic mobility that do not involve ga

Potential clinical applications of responsible gambling

Responsible gambling tools are designed to help people gamble within their means. Empirical assessments have demonstrated their effectiveness in preventing problematic play among recreational gamblers. Herein, we contend that responsible gambling tools may also have clinical utility. In this light, we review some of the available responsible gambling tools and discuss why and under what conditions each may be appropriate in a clinical setting. In doing so, we point to areas that will benefit from empirical research with clinical populations. First, we argue that education-based tools may be used to undermine the client's cognitive distortions and promote adherence to a pre-set limit. Second, we discuss monetary and time limit setting tools as an effective means to teach clients with moderation goals (in contrast to abstinence goals) how to minimize excessive play. Lastly, we suggest that personalized feedback (e.g., player account data or personalized gambling behaviour reports) provides a fairly unbiased assessment of the client's gambling activities that can facilitate discussions about the future course of treatment. Due to the paucity of attention focused on the clinical applications of responsible gambling tools, our assertions are guarded, but nonetheless highlight the need for research in this domain

Measurement of the cosmic muon annual and diurnal flux variation with the COSINE-100 detector

We report measurements of annual and diurnal modulations of the cosmic-ray muon rate in the Yangyang underground laboratory (Y2L) using 952 days of COSINE-100 data acquired between September 2016 and July 2019. A correlation of the muon rate with the atmospheric temperature is observed and its amplitude on the muon rate is determined. The effective atmospheric temperature and muon rate variations are positively correlated with a measured effective temperature coefficient of alpha(T) = 0.82 +/- 0.10. This result is consistent with a model of meson production in the atmosphere. We also searched for a diurnal modulation in the underground muon rate by comparing one-hour intervals. No significant diurnal modulation of the muon rate was observed.11Nsciescopu