Alcohol and Gambling Behavior

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Gabriele Oettingen, since 2/2022
• Subject Area: General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology ; Developmental and Educational Psychology
• Term: from 2013 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 228178708

The aim is to examine whether a self-regulation strategy that makes low chances of winning cognitively salient reduces prolonged gambling behavior under the influence of alcohol. According to alcohol-myopia theory, behavior under the influence of alcohol is disproportionally influenced by salient cues in a situation. In two previously funded projects we have shown in five studies in the lab (Studies 1, 2, 3, and 5) and field (Study 4) that acute alcohol consumption leads to reduced gambling behavior (persistence and risk-taking) in students and occasional gamblers when low chances of winning are made salient. We made low chances salient by displaying slogans about the low chances ("chances of winning only 1:5000") on games of chance. The results suggest that explicitly displaying low chances of winning on games of chance is an effective nudge to reduce gambling under the influence of alcohol. Implementing such a nudge in real life, however, would likely be a lengthy procedure requiring political decisions or a voluntary commitment of the gambling industry. Therefore, in the present renewal proposal, we investigate whether a self-regulation strategy that makes low chances of winning cognitively salient is effective in reducing prolonged gambling. Gamblers could easily and flexibly apply such a strategy whenever they anticipate a critical gambling situation. Mental contrasting with implementation intention is such a strategy. Mental contrasting with implementation intentions consists of two cognitive strategies that complement each other. Mental contrasting helps people to commit to feasible goals (e.g. reducing their gambling) and implementation intentions helps them to plan how to deal with challenges and obstacles in pursuing their goals (e.g. feeling the urge to gamble). The implementation intention component of MCII involves creating a plan in the format of "If [fill in obstacle], then I will [action to overcome obstacle]". Instead of naming an action to overcome the obstacle, we will remind gamblers of their low chances of winning by forming the following plan: "If I feel the urge to gamble, then I will remind myself of the low chances of winning." Research has shown that after using MCII, the plan components become more accessible. Therefore using MCII should make the low chances more cognitively salient in gamblers’ minds. To investigate whether MCII can be used to prevent ongoing gambling, we propose three studies: In Studies 6 and 7, we induce MCII in the lab. Directly afterward, we present participants with a computerized slot machine (Study 6) or with the website of an online lottery (Study 7). Study 8 is an intervention study over six months: We teach problem gamblers who have the wish to reduce their gambling to self-apply MCII as a strategy to reduce their gambling in every-day life. We suspect the MCII strategy reduces gambling behavior, particularly when participants have consumed alcohol.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Ehemaliger Antragsteller: Dr. A. Timur Sevincer, until 1/2022