Personality, gambling motives and cognitive distortions in electronic gambling machine players

Gambling-Related Beliefs and Gambling Behaviour: Explaining Gambling Problems with the Theory of Planned Behaviour

“…Whilst these measures are compatible with the construct of PBC, they do not incorporate the dimension of beliefs that reflect personal confidence in the ability to succeed (win at gambling), which is also a central characteristic of the construct of PBC (Ajzen 1991). In fact, several studies show that problem gamblers, compared to non-problem gamblers, hold more optimistic views (cognitive biases) in relation to their ability to influence or predict the outcome of chance determined games (MacKillop et al 2006;MacLaren et al 2015;Mattson et al 2008;Myrseth et al 2010). From a theoretical perspective, it is clear cognitive biases, which have also been referred to as wagering self-efficacy (Wohl et al 2007), have direct parallels with the self-efficacy component of PBC.…”

“…Specially, attitudes towards gambling (Bouju et al 2014;Neighbors et al 2007). perceptions of family and friends gambling behaviour and approval (Meisel and Goodie 2014;Larimer and Neighbors 2003;Neighbors et al 2007) and personal beliefs in skill (MacLaren et al 2015;Myrseth et al 2010) predict problem gambling scores. However, it appears no research to-date has simultaneously examined the role of these social-cognitive factors in relation to gambling frequency and gambling problems.…”

Relations of Five-Factor Personality Domains to Gambling Motives in Emerging Adult Gamblers: A Longitudinal Study

“…Using a 30-day experience sampling design, Goldstein, Stewart, Hoaken, and Flett (2014), in a sample of at-risk gamblers, determined that negative affectivity was positively correlated with coping motives, positive affectivity was positively related to enhancement motives, and impulsivity was positively related to both coping and enhancement motives. Using a sample of frequent electronic gambling machine players, MacLaren et al (2015) discovered that low industriousness had an indirect effect on problem gambling through coping motives. When inspecting the bivariate correlations, neuroticism was related to coping motives, conscientiousness was related to both coping and enhancement motives, and agreeableness and extraversion were unrelated to gambling motives (openness was not examined).…”

“…Prior research has also tended to exclude the openness domain of the FFM. Though a few studies have tested the link between FFM personality and gambling motives (MacLaren et al, 2015), these studies have relied on cross-sectional methods, which makes causal inference difficult. Though FFM personality domains exhibit substantial stability, these domains can also change over time, especially during emerging adulthood (Robins, Fraley, Roberts, & Trzesniewski, 2001).…”

“…Though some gamblers are motivated for non-affective reasons, such individuals tend to have fewer gambling problems overall . Despite excellent work on subtyping the personality of problem gamblers, few scholars have thus far explored the link between personality and gambling motives (cf., MacLaren, Ellery, & Knoll, 2015), and virtually no studies have used longitudinal methods to establish temporal precedence and help to infer causality. Such relationships have been shown to play a central role in the case of other addictive behaviors, such as alcohol use (Cooper, Kuntsche, Levitt, Barber, & Wolf, 2015); thus, elucidating the longitudinal relationship between personality and gambling motivations may be important to understand better both the etiology and course of problem gambling.…”