Faith's wager: How religion deters gambling

Religiosity, Financial Risk Taking, and Reward Processing: An Experimental Study

The present study investigated the extent to which financial risk-taking (FRT) perspectives and religiosity influenced an individual's performance on financial decision-making tasks under risk and/or uncertainty. It further investigated the potential to measure this interaction using electro-encephalogram (EEG) assessments through reward-related event-related potentials (P3 and FRN). EEG data were collected from 37 participants undergoing four decision-making tasks comprising the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART), Iowa Gambling Test (IGT), Mixed-Gamble Loss-Aversion Task (MGLAT), and MGLA-Success Task (MGLAST). The present study found that BART performance may be affected by an interaction of FRT perspectives and religiosity. The physiological effects of task feedback were also distinguished between religious and non-religious individuals objectively with EEG data. Overall, while religiosity and FRT may not significantly influence IGT and MGLA performance, and interact with BART in a complex way, physiological reaction towards feedback after BART performance appears to be strongly affected by religiosity and FRT perspectives.

How Does Religiosity Influence Gambling? A Cross-Cultural Study Between Portuguese and English Youth

Research has shown that religion can play a protective role in diverse risky behaviors among young people. However, very little is known about the effect of religion in gambling, especially among young problem gamblers. A strong moral belief regarding gambling may prevent adolescents and young adults engaging in gambling and developing problems. Nevertheless, some evidence suggests that religion might have an influence on gambling cognitive distortions (i.e., some religious beliefs might influence the conceptions of chance and luck, which may contribute to an increase in gambling participation). The present study examined the different effects that religion can have on gambling behavior, in two different cultural contexts (i.e., Portugal and England), characterized by different religious affiliations. A sample (n = 725) comprising Portuguese (n = 312) and English (n = 413) adolescents and young adults completed an online survey. The findings indicated that Portuguese youth were more religious than their English counterparts. Moreover, religiosity was associated with lower gambling engagement among participants in both samples. Mediation analyses also showed that the cognitive distortion of illusion of control mediated the relationship between religiosity and problem gambling among the Portuguese participants, and the interpretative bias was a significant mediator in the English sample. The study's findings suggest that religion can have a protective role on gambling behaviors. However, further research is needed to explore the interactive role of religion and cognitive distortions.

Religiosity and Chance Beliefs in Persons with DSM-IV Pathological Gambling Enrolled in a Longitudinal Follow-Up Study

This study investigates the association of public, private and intrinsic religiosity and chance beliefs (superstition, illusion of control) with gambling behavior in a longitudinal follow-up study of younger and older adult subjects with DSM-IV pathological gambling (PG) and an older adult comparison group without PG. One-hundred sixty-three subjects were enrolled including 60 younger adults with PG (≥ 18/< 40 years), 53 older adults with PG (≥ 60 years), and 50 older adults without PG (≥ 60). Subjects were assessed at baseline and every 6 months thereafter. The Duke University Religion Index for Religious Assessment and the Drake Beliefs About Chance scales were administered at baseline. Follow-up was a mean (SD) of 2.6 (1.4) years. Older adults with PG scored lower on measures of public and intrinsic aspects of religiosity than older adults without PG, and scored higher on superstition and illusion of control. Older adults with PG also scored higher than younger adults with PG on private and intrinsic religiosity, but not public religiosity. Superstition predicted intrinsic, but not other aspects of religiosity. Importantly, during follow-up, higher levels of public and intrinsic religiosity were protective against problematic (levels 2, 3) gambling; were protective against chronic PG; and were predictive of PG remission status. Lower illusion of control ratings were protective against problematic gambling and chronic PG; lower superstition ratings were predictive of remission. We conclude that higher levels of public and intrinsic religiosity and lower levels of chance beliefs are associated with a more benign PG course.

Social Explanations of Lottery Play: New Evidence Based on National Survey Data

This study examines the social contexts of gambling and analyzes social motivations for playing the lottery. We test three sociological approaches simultaneously: network effects, consumption theory, and strain theory. The data used (SOEP-IS, N = 5868 individuals) has several advantages beyond being a large-scale representative sample of the German population. With information on households, we can analyze social network effects while avoiding the problems of egocentric network data. Another benefit of the SOEP-IS is the panel structure. We use the panel structure to improve measurements of strain theory by using the decline in income over time as a measure for it. Our results suggest that the three theories explain different aspects of lottery play. Networks seem to have an influence on lottery play. Having another person in the household playing the lottery is positively associated with both the probability of playing (regularly) and expenditures on lottery tickets. Daydreams and the belief in good luck are positively associated with lottery play as well. Strain theory is confirmed insofar as we find that a decline in income is significantly related to expenditures but not to the probability of playing the lottery. Overall, this study suggests that people play the lottery depending on their social surroundings, their desire to participate in a world normally out of their reach, and the tensions they feel from the distance between their aspirations and their actual social position.

The protective role of religiosity against problem gambling: findings from a five-year prospective study

BACKGROUND

Little research has examined the potential protective influence of religiosity against problem gambling; a common addictive behavior, and one with a host of associated negative health and social outcomes. The aims of this study were to examine (1) the potential longitudinal association between religiosity and problem gambling among adults and (2) the potential moderating role of gender on this association.

METHODS

Data were from five waves of the Quinte Longitudinal Study (QLS), between 2006 and 2010. Participants were Canadian adults from Belleville, Ontario, Canada (n = 4121). A multiple group (based on gender) latent growth curve analysis was conducted to examine the overall trajectory of problem gambling severity. Two models were tested; the first examined the influence of past-year religious service attendance, and the second examined an overall measure of personal religiosity on the trajectory of problem gambling. The Problem and Pathological Gambling Measure (PPGM) was used as a continuous measure. The Rohrbaugh-Jessor Religiosity Scale (RJRS) was used to assess past-year frequency of religious service attendance and personal religiosity. Religious affiliation (Protestant, Catholic, Atheist/Agnostic, Other, Prefer not to say) was also included in the models.

RESULTS

At baseline, higher frequency of past-year religious service attendance (males: β= -0.54, females: β= -0.68, p < 0.001 for both) and greater overall personal religiosity (males: β= -0.17, females: β= -0.13, p < 0.001 for both) were associated with lower PPGM scores. The moderating effect of gender indicated that the influence of past-year religious service attendance was greater among females (χ²diff₍₄₄₎ = 336.8, p < 0.001); however, the effect of overall religiosity was greater among males (χ²diff₍₃₆₎ = 213.4, p < 0.001). Findings were mixed with respect to religious affiliation. No measures of religiosity or religious affiliation were associated with the overall decline in problem gambling severity.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that religiosity may act as a static protective factor against problem gambling severity but may play a less significant role in predicting change in problem gambling severity over time.