The personality of pathological gamblers: A meta-analysis

MacLaren, Vance V.; Fugelsang, Johnathan A.; Harrigan, Kevin; Dixon, Michael J.

doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2011.02.002

Cited by 231 publications

(141 citation statements)

References 93 publications

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“…What, then, explains why gambling is appealing, and why do pathological cases of the compulsion to gamble exist? A large body of research suggests that cognitive distortions play an important role in the development, maintenance, and treatment of pathological gambling (e.g., Bechara 2001;Clark et al 2014;Jefferson and Nicki 2003;MacLaren et al 2011MacLaren et al , 2012Michalczuk et al 2011;Toplak et al 2007). Many of these distortions can be regarded as specific cases of a more general phenomenon: The misperception of randomness (e.g., Bar-Hillel and Wagenaar 1991;Falk and Konold 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Betting on Illusory Patterns: Probability Matching in Habitual Gamblers

et al. 2015

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Why do people gamble? A large body of research suggests that cognitive distortions play an important role in pathological gambling. Many of these distortions are specific cases of a more general misperception of randomness, specifically of an illusory perception of patterns in random sequences. In this article, we provide further evidence for the assumption that gamblers are particularly prone to perceiving illusory patterns. In particular, we compared habitual gamblers to a matched sample of community members with regard to how much they exhibit the choice anomaly 'probability matching'. Probability matching describes the tendency to match response proportions to outcome probabilities when predicting binary outcomes. It leads to a lower expected accuracy than the maximizing strategy of predicting the most likely event on each trial. Previous research has shown that an illusory perception of patterns in random sequences fuels probability matching. So does impulsivity, which is also reported to be higher in gamblers. We therefore hypothesized that gamblers will exhibit more probability matching than nongamblers, which was confirmed in a controlled laboratory experiment. Additionally, gamblers scored much lower than community members on the cognitive reflection task, which indicates higher impulsivity. This difference could account for the difference in probability matching between the samples. These results suggest that gamblers are more willing to bet impulsively on perceived illusory patterns.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Betting on Illusory Patterns: Probability Matching in Habitual Gamblers

et al. 2015

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“…A meta-analysis of 44 studies (N = 7455) found that pathological gamblers were lower in conscientiousness and agreeableness, higher on neuroticism, and had roughly the same levels of extraversion compared to healthy controls (MacLaren, Fugelsang, Harrigan, & Dixon, 2011b). This meta-analysis provides an important summary of personality differences between treatment-seeking problem gamblers and healthy controls.…”

Section: The Five Factor Model and Pathological Gamblingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a community sample, Miller et al (2013) established that only high neuroticism and low openness predicted gambling problems after controlling for other FFM personality domains. Thus, when all five personality domain scores are entered simultaneously to predict gambling outcomes in community and student samples, the pattern of results appears less clear than in designs comparing treatment-seeking problem gamblers to healthy controls (MacLaren et al, 2011b).…”

Section: The Five Factor Model and Pathological Gamblingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Beyond this, the hierarchical structure of personality (Markon, Kruger, & Watson, 2005) means that personality domains in the FFM are not fully orthogonal. Multiple regression might help tease apart the unique contributions of the FFM components when predicting gambling beyond what was shown in MacLaren et al (2011b). Finally, though there is not necessarily a strong theoretical rationale for its inclusion, MacLaren et al's (2011b) meta-analysis did not examine openness, which is a potential limitation in method.…”

Section: The Five Factor Model and Pathological Gamblingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Though much research has examined the link between personality and problem gambling in treatment-seeking (MacLaren et al, 2011b) and university student samples (Buckle et al, 2013), few studies have examined the relationship in community emerging adults. Such tests are important to ensure that relationships between personality and problem gambling are not due to selection bias.…”

Section: Rationale and The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

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

Mackinnon¹,

Lambe²,

Stewart³

2017

JGI

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At least three types of gambling motives have been proposed: coping motives (gambling to reduce negative affect), enhancement motives (gambling to enhance positive affect), and social motives (gambling to increase social affiliation). Few studies have examined the underlying personality traits that give rise to these different motivations. The present study tests the longitudinal link between changes in five-factor model personality domains and gambling motives among emerging adults. A sample of 679 emerging adults (M age = 18.90 years; 51.8% female) was recruited as part of the Manitoba Longitudinal Study of Young Adults (MLSYA). Participants completed self-report questionnaires across four measurement occasions, with each measurement 12-18 months apart. The NEO Five Factor Inventory was administered at waves 1 and 3, and the Gambling Motives Questionnaire was administered at wave 4. Data were analyzed using longitudinal structural equation modeling. Emerging adults who experienced increases in neuroticism had higher coping motives at a subsequent wave. Those who experienced increases in extraversion had higher enhancement and social motives. Those who experienced increases in agreeableness had lower social and coping motives. Changes in conscientiousness and openness were unrelated to any of the motives after controlling for all other variables. Extraversion and agreeableness predicting social motives were the most robust findings. A multigroup analysis showed the measurement and structural models did not differ by sex. Longitudinal changes in five-factor model personality domains were linked to specific motives for gambling in a theoretically-expected fashion. Results have implications for personality-targeted interventions for problem gamblers.

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Personality and Addiction: A Critical Review of Assessment Approaches

Miller¹,

Lynam²

2013

The Wiley‐Blackwell Handbook of Addiction Psychopharmacology

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The personality of pathological gamblers: A meta-analysis

Cited by 231 publications

References 93 publications

Betting on Illusory Patterns: Probability Matching in Habitual Gamblers

Betting on Illusory Patterns: Probability Matching in Habitual Gamblers

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

Personality and Addiction: A Critical Review of Assessment Approaches

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