Gamblers’ aces in the hole: the effect of erroneous cognitions on dysfunctional gambling

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether gambler’s cognitive errors affect gambling involvement and addiction. As the popularity of gambling has grown, questions are being raised about its excessive use and factors related to addictive behaviours. Design/methodology/approach – An online survey on 508 gamblers was conducted. Structural equation modelling was used to investigate the relationships among gambling beliefs, gambling involvement and problem gambling. Findings – Among the three sets of erroneous beliefs investigated, luck and superstition were significant predictors of both gambling involvement and the severity of gambling problems (according to the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI)), while the illusion of control showed a negative relationship with the PGSI. Moreover, gambling involvement positively affected the potential risk of disease and mediates the relationship between luck and superstition and PGSI. Research limitations/implications – Because not all cognitive dimensions apparently influence gambling behaviour, future research should extend the analysis to include other variables that may moderate or mediate the causal relationship. Practical implications – The results are useful to marketers in developing social marketing campaigns wishing to discourage gambling. Moreover, factors that influence gambling involvement and addiction may be used as diagnostic tools to correct gamblers behaviour. Originality/value – The paper proposes a deeper exploration of the relationships among beliefs, gambling involvement and dysfunctional gambling and an appropriate scale to capture the entire spectrum of gambler’s beliefs in relation to every form of gambling activity.