This study examined whether gambling in the presence of others could help reduce risky gambling behaviour. The researchers recruited 40 participants from online survey panels in Japan. Participants had to score as moderate-risk to problem gambling based on the Problem Gambling Severity Index (scores of at least 3). Participants were matched into pairs based on gender and generation.
In the experiment, participants played the Game of Dice Task (GDT) across three conditions. They completed it on their own (solo condition), at the same time as another participant (parallel condition), and working together with another participant (cooperation condition). The researchers found that compared to the solo condition, risky betting behaviour was not decreased by the presence of others (parallel condition) or by cooperating with others (cooperation condition). Instead, participants made more risky betting choices in the cooperation condition than in the solo condition.
