title: Arousal and affective differences between student gamblers and non-gamblers during a card game.
abstract: The current study examined the differences in arousal (physiologically and subjectively) between gamblers and non-gamblers. Thirty students from a mid-sized university took part in the study for a chance to win money in a gambling task. Nearly half of the participants identified themselves as non-gamblers and slightly more than half of the participants considered themselves gamblers. Findings indicated that gamblers experienced a significantly higher increase in physiological arousal (heart rate) compared to non-gamblers during the gambling experience. The results suggests the possibility that physiological arousal may play a role in the appeal of gambling to certain types of people. Furthermore, when gamblers suffered a loss at the end of the game, they reported feeling worse as compared to the non-gamblers and relative to their state before playing. Moreover, this affective change explained 28.6% of the variance in gambling behavior according to self-reports. Findings suggest that gamblers in our study may have been more personally invested in the gambling tasks, such that losing was more disappointing to the habitual gamblers than the non-gamblers.
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, ON N9B 3P4, Canada. apl@uwindsor.ca
authors: Antonio
authors: A
authors: Pascual-Leone
authors: Jennifer L
authors: JL
authors: Campeau
authors: Shawn J
authors: SJ
authors: Harrington
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling / Q000523:psychology*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011998:Recreation; D012307:Risk Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult