We found a match
Your institution may have rights to this item. Sign in to continue.
- Title
Connecting with a Slot Machine: Social Exclusion and Anthropomorphization Increase Gambling.
- Authors
Pancani, Luca; Riva, Paolo; Sacchi, Simona
- Abstract
Two studies tested whether social exclusion can increase gambling behavior. In Study 1, participants were asked to relive a socially painful instance, a physically painful instance or a control condition and were then presented with a real online gambling device (i.e., a slot machine). The results revealed that participants who relived a socially painful instance played longer on the gambling device. In Study 2, we induced actual feelings of social disconnection and manipulated slot machine anthropomorphization. The results revealed a significant interaction between inclusionary status and anthropomorphism in predicting gambling. More specifically, excluded participants gambled longer when presented with an anthropomorphized slot machine. However, the gambling behavior of excluded and included participants was no different when participants were reminded that slot machines are inanimate objects. Finally, positive and negative game experience mediated the influence of both inclusionary status and anthropomorphism on gambling. Overall, this research identifies another potential vulnerability produced by experiences of social exclusion, namely, gambling behavior. Implications for pathological gambling and future research directions are outlined.
- Subjects
SLOT machines; GAMBLING; ANTHROPOMORPHISM; SOCIAL isolation; SOCIAL groups
- Publication
Journal of Gambling Studies, 2019, Vol 35, Issue 2, p689
- ISSN
1050-5350
- Publication type
journal article
- DOI
10.1007/s10899-018-9784-9