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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 (Mage = 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 (rs = 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]

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