Gambling motivation and involvement: A review of social

In the research reviewed, reasons for high involvement in gambling are in the
forefront of the micro-sociological studies, especially those on gambling subcultures.
These studies show how, for some individuals, gambling becomes a way of life.
Such studies, as well as ethnographic studies more generally, also reveal situational
rationalities peculiar to gambling environments, i.e. modes of thinking shaped by
the contexts and environments of playing games that to an outside observer appear
irrational and distorted. Such thinking and the resulting behaviors are direct risk
factors for gambling problems.
Two promising quantitative approaches that may complement problem gambling
prevalence studies have been identified in the research reviewed. One approach is
the geographical analysis of gambling participation, which enables us to study the
connection between availability of gambling and the extent of problem gambling.
Another approach is the statistical study of betting slips, electronic databases of
online gambling behavior, and other hard evidence of how gamblers play. Such
player tracking studies do not rely on self-report but on evidence of actual decisions
made when gambling.
Most of the comprehensive models of gambling behavior discussed integrate psychological
factors with social, economic and cultural factors. While the motivational
models apply mostly to the leisure gambler, the involvement models account
for problem gambling. The variety of such models tells us two things: first, that
problem gambling is complex, which makes it necessary to include a great number
of factors in the models – factors that researchers may define differently and consider
to have different relations of causality; and second, that problem gambling
research has varying objectives, where some research focuses on the individual and
other research focuses on the social contexts of gambling.
Some of the qualitative approaches reviewed are of little direct relevance to problem
gambling studies: the cross-cultural, historic and cultural studies. Such research
is, however, of indirect value, since it prompts us to reflect on gambling as a social
and cultural phenomenon. While the bulk of scientific discoveries and uncovering of
facts by empirical research is made by focusing on specific issues that are dissected
in detail, scientific progress is more generally promoted by researchers occasionally
taking a broader view on the subject of investigation.
These broader views may spawn new ideas for research questions. One example,
from this knowledge review, is whether problem gambling exists in non-commercial
gambling on chance games and in skill games where gamblers are equally skilled.
Another advantage of such broad views is that they highlight the social and cultural
context of research. Gambling and problem gambling is conceptualized in different
ways across historical periods and societies, and researchers should be aware of
how their activities relate to these conceptualizations. Scientists may feel that they
work perfectly objectively and detached from moral and political contexts, but in
reality all science is framed and influenced by society and culture at large; the fruits
of research are not only scientific but also social.
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