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People have different motivations to gamble, and different types of games can appeal to different motivations.
A motivation common to all gambling types is the desire to win money. But, people with gambling problems often place more importance on winning money than people without gambling problems. In popular culture, winning is associated with success, happiness, and a better life. Some games, such as lotteries, offer the fantasy of winning big with a small wager. Thus, while lotteries are considered quite harmless for the most part, people experiencing financial hardship may spend more than they can afford on lotteries, with the unrealistic hope of winning big.
The social context of gambling can be important. People may gamble to socialize and spend time with friends and family members. Evidence on how the social motivation is related to harmful gambling is mixed. On the one hand, people may want to socialize with others and, therefore, spend more time and money on gambling than they want to; on the other hand, gambling with other people may act as a form of social control. In other words, people may stop themselves from gambling to excess to avoid the disapproval of others.
Gambling for excitement and gambling to cope with or escape from stress and life troubles are two other common motives. Gambling for excitement, also known as the enhancement motive, has been associated with harmful gambling. Some games, including high stakes casino games, are set up to satisfy the desire for excitement. Gambling to cope with or escape from stress and life troubles is very common among people with gambling problems. Some games, including EGMs, may bring about a state of dissociation. In that state, gamblers become so immersed in the game that they lose track of time and their surroundings. As a consequence, they spend more time and money gambling than they realize.
Some people gamble to demonstrate their skill and compete with others. These two motives are common among players of certain games, like poker and sports betting. Some people who gamble may develop irrational beliefs about their skill in gambling. For example, they may believe that they will become more skillful if they continue to gamble. They may also believe that wins occur because of their skill, whereas losses occur due to bad luck. If people overestimate how much influence their skill has on the outcome of the game, it may lead them to gamble excessively.
In general, people who participate in many types of gambling tend to gamble more heavily. Consequently, they are at a greater risk of developing gambling problems.
Download the two-page Gambling Types Factor summary (PDF)
Download the Gambling Types Factor section from the Conceptual Framework of Harmful Gambling (PDF)
Download the complete Conceptual Framework of Harmful Gambling (PDF)
Search the Evidence Centre for Motivational Characteristics