Craps and Magic

Henslin, James M.

doi:10.1086/224479

Cited by 202 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Sociologists Henslin (1967) and King (1990) made note of the abundance of rituals and lucky charms in craps and bingo. For example, Henslin observed that, since dropping the dice in craps is considered a bad omen, "without exception, each shooter, after dropping the dice, rubs both dice on the ground or playing surface" (p. 323) 1 .…”

Section: Beliefs Reflecting the Illusion Of Secondary Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Erroneous Gambling-Related Beliefs as Illusions of Primary and Secondary Control: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis

2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

categories. None of these classification systems have, however, considered the how the illusion of control and the gambler's fallacy might be interrelated. In this paper, we report the findings of a confirmatory factor analysis that examines the proposal that most erroneous gambling-related beliefs can be defined in terms of Rothbaum et al.'s (1982) distinction between 'primary' and 'secondary' illusory control, with the former being driven to a large extent by the well-known gambler's fallacy and the latter being driven by a complex of beliefs about supernatural forces such as God and luck. A survey consisting of 100 items derived from existing instruments was administered to 329 participants. The analysis confirmed the existence of two latent structures (beliefs in primary and secondary control), while also offering support to the idea that gambler's fallacy-style reasoning may underlie both perceived primary control and beliefs about the cyclical nature of luck, a form of perceived secondary control. The results suggest the need for a greater focus on the role of underlying processes or belief structures as factors that foster susceptibility to specific beliefs in gambling situations. Addressing and recognising the importance of these underlying factors may also have implications for cognitive therapy treatments for problem gambling.

show abstract

Section: Beliefs Reflecting the Illusion Of Secondary Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Erroneous Gambling-Related Beliefs as Illusions of Primary and Secondary Control: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis

2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For example, differences have been found in the types of gambling preferred by middle-class and blue-collar gamblers, by men and women, and by White and Black Americans (Drake & Cayton, 1945;Henslin, 1967;Light, 1977;Strachan & Custer, 1993;Zola, 1964).…”

Section: Population Surveys: Cultural and Sociodemographic Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Reducing Adolescent Risk: Toward an Integrated Approach

Römer¹

2003

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…There is considerable evidence in the literature for the existence of such beliefs. Following are several examples: Individuals use more physical force when rolling a die if the desired outcome is one of the higher numbers (Henslin, 1967). Participants tend to place a higher value on lottery tickets when they, rather than the experimenter, pick them out of a box (Langer, 1975, explained this phenomenon as the "illusion of control").…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Avoiding greedy behavior in situations of uncertainty: The role of magical thinking

Arad

2014

Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

a b s t r a c tPrevious studies have found evidence for the belief that actions which tempt fate increase the likelihood of negative outcomes. These included actions that presuppose a good outcome, that reflect hubris or that involve excessive risk taking. This paper explores a related form of magical thinking whereby individuals believe that asking for too much in situations of uncertainty may be punished by the universe and may decrease the probability of the desired outcome. It was found that many participants irrationally forgo the "greedy" option under uncertainty, even though it dominates other options and their behavior is not observed. It is suggested that some participants fear being magically punished for greediness and it is shown that the avoidance of greedy actions under uncertainty is related to the belief that one should not tempt fate. This phenomenon may have implications for various types of economic decisions such as charity donation, insurance purchase and bargaining.

show abstract

Craps and Magic

Cited by 202 publications

References 0 publications

Erroneous Gambling-Related Beliefs as Illusions of Primary and Secondary Control: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Erroneous Gambling-Related Beliefs as Illusions of Primary and Secondary Control: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Reducing Adolescent Risk: Toward an Integrated Approach

Avoiding greedy behavior in situations of uncertainty: The role of magical thinking

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About