Open Collections

Brooks, Gabriel

University of British Columbia

Gambling-related cognitive distortions (GRCDs) are central to the cognitive model of gambling, and through these lenses, gamblers may perceive themselves as being able to predict or influence randomly determined outcomes. Chapter 2 explored the associations between schizotypy, GRCDs, and problematic gambling via three cross-sectional samples. Schizotypal personality (schizotypy) is a cluster of traits in the general population, including alterations in belief formation that may underpin delusional thinking. Small-to-moderate associations were detected between components of schizotypy and gambling-related variables, pointing to shared biases relating to belief formation and decision-making. Chapter 3 sought to develop a scale to assess state-activated GRCDs during slot machine gambling. Scale items were developed and refined across three samples and underwent exploratory factor analysis. This produced a 17-item scale comprising 4 factors: Magical Thinking, Personal Illusion of Control, Hot Hand Fallacy, and Experienced Luck. Initial reliability and validity was established. This instrument increases accessibility to state-activated gambling beliefs. Chapters 4 & 5 focused upon the gamblification of video games by investigating ‘loot boxes’, virtual items in video games that generate a randomized in-game reward of varying desirability. Chapter 4 was among the first studies to establish a cross-sectional link between loot boxes and gambling. Loot boxes were perceived as gambling by a majority of participants. Loot box expenditure, and their risky use, was moderately linked to GRCDs and problematic gambling. The gambling-related variables were also a stronger predictor of risky loot box use than a measure of disordered gaming. These results underline a psychological similarity between loot boxes and gambling and implicate each behaviour as a risk factor for the other, although these cross-sectional data do not establish directionality. Chapter 5 clarified the directional relationship between loot boxes and gambling behaviour, via a longitudinal study. In a sample of non-gamblers, ‘migration’ to gambling was predicted by loot box expenditure and risky use six months later, whereas non-loot box microtransaction expenditure did not. In an exploratory resorting of participants, baseline GRCD endorsement also predicted migration to loot box use. These results are consistent with a bi-directional temporal relationship and support regulatory action on loot boxes.

Text

2023-08-14

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/85453

Psychology

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/