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Near‐wins and near‐losses in gambling: A behavioral and facial EMG study
Author(s) -
Wu Yin,
Dijk Eric,
Clark Luke
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/psyp.12336
Subject(s) - luck , psychology , reactivity (psychology) , counterfactual thinking , affect (linguistics) , facial electromyography , audiology , social psychology , facial expression , developmental psychology , communication , theology , medicine , philosophy , alternative medicine , pathology
This study investigated responses to near‐wins (i.e., nonwin outcomes that were close to a major win, and their counterpart, near‐losses (nonwin outcomes that are proximal to a major loss) in a decision‐making task, measuring (a) luck ratings, (b) adjustment of bet amount, and (c) facial muscle reactivity at zygomaticus and corrugator sites. Compared to full‐misses, near‐wins decreased self‐perceived luck and near‐losses increased self‐perceived luck, consistent with the effects of upward versus downward counterfactual thinking, respectively. Wins and losses both increased zygomaticus reactivity, and losses selectively enhanced corrugator reactivity. Near‐wins heightened zygomaticus activity, but did not affect corrugator activity, thus showing a similar response pattern to actual wins. There were no significant facial EMG effects of near‐losses. We infer that near‐wins engender some appetitive processing, despite their objective nonwin status.