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The Effects of Realistic Reward and Risk on Simulated Gambling Behavior
Author(s) -
Seifert Cheryl Ann,
Wulfert Edelgard
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the american journal on addictions
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.997
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-0391
pISSN - 1055-0496
DOI - 10.1111/j.1521-0391.2010.00114.x
Subject(s) - psychology , race (biology) , arousal , personality , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , social psychology , biology , botany
Laboratory studies on gambling may not represent an accurate analog of actual gambling behavior because they typically fail to model a meaningful level of risk and reward that is given in real‐world settings. The current study sought to address this problem. One hundred and twenty college students were given the opportunity to bet valued experimental credits required for passing an introductory psychology course on the outcome of a videotaped horse race while their heart rate was monitored. Of those, 67 decided to wager, whereas 53 did not. Individuals who wagered course credits demonstrated a larger increase in heart rate and reported more subjective excitement during the race compared to individuals who did not bet. While the bettors’ heart rates remained elevated after the end of the race, reports of subjective excitement depended on whether individuals had won or lost their wager. Significant gender differences and differences in personality were also found between the groups of bettors and nonbettors. These findings demonstrate that arousal in response to gambling is related to the potential for both risk and reward. (Am J Addict 2011;20: 1–7)