Gambling motivation and involvement: A review of social

RELEvancE tO pRObLEm GambLinG StudiES
The involvement models presented have different objectives. Those presented early
in the list aim primarily at explaining why one individual and not another one develop
problem gambling. Therefore, there is a focus on individual factors, i.e. biological
and psychological. Those presented at the end of the list primarily aim at explaining
why certain groups of people gamble more than others. Therefore, there is a focus
on the social and cultural variables that apply on group level. All these models are
potentially useful for research with the purpose of identifying motives for gambling,
explaining varying levels of involvement, and identifying risk factors – individual
and/or socio-cultural – for problem gambling. However, the practical usefulness
clearly varies. Some relationships in some models appear quite unproblematic to
apply in quantitative research – the factors involved are rather easy to isolate and
quantify and the causal relationships are not overly complicated. Other models
seem virtually impossible to bring to instrumental use in quantitative research. That
a specific model might not be useful for that purpose is not to be considered as a
fault. The model may be intended to be primarily conceptual, not instrumental.
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