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Desire for Control and Gambling Behavior among Problem Gamblers

University of Santa Clara

Norris G. Smith

Connecticut College

The relationship between individual differences in the general desire to control events and gambling behavior was examined. Desire for control scores for members of a Gamblers Anonymous group were found to be significantly related to how frequently the gamblers had bet upon games and events containing a slight perception of controllability. Consistent with earlier research linking gambling behavior with the illusion of control phenomenon, no such relationship was found when using desire for control scores to predict how frequently the subjects had bet upon games without this hint of controllability. Desire for control scores also tended to be related to how much money the gamblers had lost during their worst year of gambling. However, contrary to prediction, the gamblers were found to have significantly lower desire for control scores on the average than a matched comparison group. It is suggested that individual differences in desire for control influence gambling behavior but are not a cause of problem gambling.

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