Dataset Information

No effect of short term exposure to gambling like reward systems on post game risk taking.

ABSTRACT: Is engaging with gambling-like video game rewards a risk factor for future gambling? Despite speculation, there are no direct experimental tests of this "gateway hypothesis". We test a mechanism that might support this pathway: the effects of engaging with gambling-like reward mechanisms on risk-taking. We tested the hypothesis that players exposed to gambling-like rewards (i.e., randomised rewards delivered via a loot box) would show increased risk-taking compared to players in fixed and no reward control conditions. 153 participants (M_age = 25) completed twenty minutes of gameplay-including exposure to one of the three reward conditions-before completing a gamified, online version of the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). Self-reports of gambling and loot box engagement were collected via the Problem Gambling Severity Index, and Risky Loot-Box Index. Bayesian t-tests comparing BART scores across reward conditions provided moderate to strong evidence for a null effect of condition on risk-taking (BF = 4.05-10.64). Null effects were not moderated by players' problem gambling symptomatology. A Spearman correlation between past loot box engagement and self-reported gambling severity (r_s = 0.35) aligned with existing literature. Our data speak against a "gateway" hypothesis, but add support to the notion that problem gambling symptoms might make players vulnerable to overspending on loot boxes.

SUBMITTER: D'Amico NJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9537418 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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No effect of short term exposure to gambling like reward systems on post game risk taking.

D'Amico Nicholas J NJ Drummond Aaron A de Salas Kristy K Lewis Ian I Waugh Callan C Bannister Breanna B Sauer James D JD

Scientific reports 20221006 1

Is engaging with gambling-like video game rewards a risk factor for future gambling? Despite speculation, there are no direct experimental tests of this "gateway hypothesis". We test a mechanism that might support this pathway: the effects of engaging with gambling-like reward mechanisms on risk-taking. We tested the hypothesis that players exposed to gambling-like rewards (i.e., randomised rewards delivered via a loot box) would show increased risk-taking compared to players in fixed and no rew ...[more]

PMID: 36202911

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Dataset Information

No effect of short term exposure to gambling like reward systems on post game risk taking.

Publications

No effect of short term exposure to gambling like reward systems on post game risk taking.

Similar Datasets

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