Roles of personality, situational, and gender variables in predicting aspects of gambling behavior

Currently, there are very few widely accepted theories or models accounting for pathological gambling or general gambling behavior. The present study attempted to remedy this deficiency by examining the effect of four variables on two aspects of gambling behavior. Type of gambler (pathological vs. nonpathological), control condition (subject vs. external), desire for control, and gender were studied to determine their link to wagering amounts (based upon number of chips bet) and illusion of control (based upon Task Rating Scale scores). Two models of betting behavior were developed based on the results of the study.

Eighty subjects were given a wide variety of gambling tasks in order to accurately assess their gambling behavior. The results revealed that the predictors accounted for a significant amount of the variance in both dependent variables. Type of gambler and gender significantly predicted number of chips wagered. The best predictor was type of gambler, as pathological gamblers bet significantly greater numbers of chips than nonpathological gamblers. This result was expected, as it confirmed items from the diagnostic criteria for pathological gambling. Control condition, type of gambler, and desire for control significantly predicted illusion control. The best predictor was control condition, as subjects in the subject-control condition had significantly higher Task Rating Scale scores that subjects in the external-control condition. Other findings include greater illusion of control in pathological gamblers than in nonpathological gamblers, greater number of chips wagered by males than by females, and higher desire for control in pathological gamblers than in nonpathological gamblers.

The results suggest that pathological gamblers may be distinguished from nonpathological gamblers through at least three of the factors studied--higher wagering amounts, greater expectations of success in chance tasks (illusion of control), and higher motivation to control life events (desire for control). A reasonable theory of gambling behavior would incorporate these findings, as well as the additional components of the devised models. Clinical implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.