Gambling decisions : the influence of difficulty, stakes and self-determination.

Abstract

Two studies were conducted to examine the external factors of influences, difficulty level and amount of stakes on individuals’ gambling decisions as well as their relations with self-determination. Gambling involvement on low difficulty task condition was found to be significantly higher for both students and public. For the factor of amount of stakes, losses as compared to payout were found to affect individual gambling decisions more. But the prediction that high self-determination scores would decrease interaction effect of payout and loss was only supported for the sample of students. General findings of external factors having influences on gambling decisions could suggest the possibility of manipulation of social environmental factors to deter increasing gambling involvement in the society.