title: The impact of precommitment on risk-taking while gambling: A preliminary study.
abstract: Background and aims Precommitment refers to the ability to prospectively restrict the access to temptations. This study examined whether risk-taking during gambling is decreased when an individual has the opportunity to precommit to his forthcoming bet. Methods Sixty individuals participated in a gambling task that consisted of direct choice (simply chose one monetary option among four available ones, ranging from low-risk to high-risk options) or precommitment trials (before choosing an amount, participants had the opportunity to make a binding choice that made high-risk options unavailable). Results We found that participants utilized the precommitment option, such that risk-taking was decreased on precommitment trials compared to direct choices. Within the precommitment trials, there was no significant difference in risk-taking following decisions to restrict versus non-restrict. Discussion These findings suggest that the opportunity to precommit may be sufficient to reduce the attractiveness of risk. Conclusions Present results might be exploited to create interventions aiming at enhancing one's ability to anticipate self-control failures while gambling.
authors.affiliation: Brain and Creativity Institute, Department of Psychology, University of Southern California , Los Angeles, CA, USA.|Psychological Medicine and Addictology Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, Brugmann-campus, Université Libre de Bruxelles , Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Damien
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brevers
authors.affiliation: Psychological Medicine and Addictology Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, Brugmann-campus, Université Libre de Bruxelles , Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Noel
authors.affiliation: Centre for Gambling Research, Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia , Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: Luke
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: Brain and Creativity Institute, Department of Psychology, University of Southern California , Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Jekaterina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zyuzin
authors.affiliation: Brain and Creativity Institute, Department of Psychology, University of Southern California , Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Joohwan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Justin Park
authors.affiliation: Brain and Creativity Institute, Department of Psychology, University of Southern California , Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bechara
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002755:Choice Behavior; D030141:Feedback, Psychological; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011678:Punishment / Q000523:psychology; D012201:Reward; D012306:Risk; D000068356:Self-Control / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: gambling; precommitment; punishment sensitivity; risk-taking; self-control