Abstract
The attempt to recover gambling losses by continuing to gamble ("chasing") has featured prominently in accounts of excessive gambling. This research represents the first attempt to operationalize and measure chasing in terms of its cognitive, emotive, and behavioral components, and to investigate the role of chasing in relation to impaired control over gambling. Two survey samples of 84 male off-course race gamblers and 137 gaming machine players were recruited at gambling venues. It was found that the various components of chasing formed a composite measure with high internal reliability that was strongly related to indicators of excessive gambling and to impaired control scores. Reacting to large wins by further betting was almost as strongly related to impaired control as was persistence after losing. Those who returned later to chase had significantly higher impaired control scores than those who only chased within a session. Alcohol-related chasing was associated with impaired control over gambling. Chasing of losses and impaired control appear to be generic processes in evidence across both forms of gambling and gender (most format and sex differences were of minor significance).
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 28 |
| Journal | Journal of Gambling Studies |
| Publication status | Published - 2003 |
Keywords
- compulsive behavior
- compulsive gambling
- gamblers
- gambling
- psychological aspects
- slot machines