Psychology Behind Gambling Explained

Some form of gambling has been around since at least 2300 B.C. While the games and technology have certainly changed over time, its popularity has not diminished – but why? If you’ve ever wondered about the reasons why people gamble, read on to explore the science and psychology behind gambling.

To understand the psychology behind gambling, we first have to look at how the brain works. Gambling affects your mental state by releasing dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter and a hormone, and it results in the improvement of mood. Many things help the brain to release dopamine, from spending time with friends to listening to music to exercising. Unfortunately, more unhealthy activities can also release dopamine and result in addictions.

We’ll take a look at how all of this works throughout this article. You can use the table below to jump directly to the information that interests you most. Before you start playing, check out our tips on how to gamble responsibly.

• The Science of Gambling
• Other Reasons Why People Gamble
• Resources for Problem Gaming

The Science of Gambling

As we began discussing above, part of the reason gambling is popular has to do with brain chemistry and how gambling causes our brains to produce certain neurotransmitters, like dopamine. Interestingly, dopamine can be released not only when someone wins a game, but also when losing. This seems confusing, but it’s one of the reasons people continue to play even when they cannot afford to lose more, for example.

You can see then how gambling can lead to problematic behavior. This is the reason we always recommend that players pay good attention to their bankroll management. It’s vital to know how much you can afford to lose and to not go beyond that amount, even if you are having a good time or feel that a win is just around the corner. These feelings of excitement and the drive to continue are just your brain’s natural response to the hits of dopamine betting can create.

Additional Factors

There have been many scientific studies about the psychology behind gambling. As it turns out, it goes beyond dopamine and adrenaline: there are many additional factors to why some people find gambling more habit-forming than other people do, for example. Some of these factors include the age of the player when they start, their home background and day-to-day environment and their class/income.

Additional factors include the person’s history with substance abuse as well as any other present mental health issues. There have been connections made between ADHD and an increased likelihood of developing a problem with gambling.

There are also factors within the world of gambling that will contribute to these issues. The gambling environment, how often someone is exposed to gambling in day-to-day life, the type of gambling or betting, and the accessibility of resources for someone to find support with problem gaming, are all important factors. In fact, these have been broken down in someone called the Conceptual Framework of Harmful Gambling. This can be read about in more detail via the Greo Evidence Insights website.

Cultural Factors

Studies on gambling and the brain reveal that cultural factors also play a part in someone’s relationship to gambling and whether or not it is at more risk of becoming problematic. For example, some cultures regularly take part in games and gambling, therefore people are introduced to it at a young age and consider it normal and healthy.

While some people can of course take part in gambling without having an addiction, others are not so lucky. It can be hard to recognize gambling issues if you are used to those around you taking part in this pastime, in the same way that alcohol and drug usage are more common among certain environments and may not be seen as unusual.

Biological Issues

Studies on the brains of people who have had gambling problems show that there are some commonalities in brain makeup. Those who have shown addictive gambling behavior are usually more likely to have problems with decision making and trouble processing rewards. If a brain does not create dopamine easily and make a person feel rewarded for healthy activities, they might seek out external activities more often to feel the same jolt of happiness, excitement and pleasure that other people find more easily.

All of this can lead to issues with impulse control and a desire to bet more in order to activate pleasurable feelings in the brain. A similar dynamic is at work with individuals who suffer from anxiety and depression, as well as other mood disorders. If a brain has trouble regulating mood on its own, the person is more likely to seek out things that will make them feel good quickly. Gambling can be this kind of quick-fix, which is not a long-term, sustainable solution.

Myths Around Gambling

It is interesting to note that there are also several myths around gambling which can make it more appealing to some players. This is partly a psychological issue; some people believe in the logic of these ideas and use them to inform their own betting behavior, but usually to their detriment. Let’s look at a few examples.

In the gambler’s fallacy, players use past results to make guesses about future results. A good example of this is in the game of baccarat where it is called “following the shoe.” When players follow the shoe, they continue to bet on outcomes that have just happened, noticing a “mini-streak” of the same results (baccarat is a good example since every draw has a very limited number of outcomes, unlike a game like roulette where a large number of numbers could be the winner each time).

Though some players convince themselves that they can catch a streak and make big wins as a result of it, the truth is that no past outcome determines a future outcome in a game like baccarat (or in many other games). This is the key to the gambler’s fallacy.

The gambler’s fallacy is related to another common gambling myth: the illusion of control. Players suffering from this belief are convinced that certain rituals or choices will affect the outcome of the game they are playing, for example wearing a lucky piece of clothing, kissing the dice, or playing on a certain slot machine. One can quickly see how issues like this feed into other psychological conditions; people diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder also often feel the need to abide by certain rituals to ensure safe outcomes.

This is why it is difficult to be purely logical about gambling. Some players will be able to see games clearly for what they are – a game of chance – but others, especially those with additional mental health struggles, will have a harder time. However, there are some things that can help players who find themselves struggling with problem gambling.

The Importance of Information

Reading an article like this is already a helpful step towards understanding the science of gambling and what this activity does to the brain. From this point, there are also many resources that can help if you have found yourself in the grips of a gaming problem. You can take a self-assessment quiz to see if your behavior falls in line with problem gaming. We have also listed some other resources at the end of this article.

Other Reasons Why People Gamble

Aside from the feel-good factor of dopamine, people gamble for many reasons. Gambling can be a fun pastime. It can be communal – many people enjoy regular poker games among friends of family, which may or may not be played for real money. Playing at a nice casino can constitute an entertaining night out, especially when paired with the great restaurants and live shows upscale casinos have to offer.

Gambling is also a reward-based activity. People gamble because they see it as a way to potentially make something from nothing. One of the reasons why people gamble is certainly because it has been depicted in a glamorous way across television and cinema for decades. It’s seen as a luxurious, exciting activity which can bring with it fame and fortune (especially fortune!).

The Gambling Spiral

The downside of this is that some players have trouble walking away when they have lost. If you go into gambling hoping to make a fortune and change your life, it can be hard to accept a negative result. This is how some players get into dangerous gaming spirals, insisting on playing “just one more” round in an effort to win back what they’ve lost or to reach the goal they had in the first place.

When a player ends up losing a substantial amount, this can also result in a great deal of shame and embarrassment. Instead of stopping and asking for support, which would mean admitting a problem, it is easy for some to end up digging themselves deeper into the hole of debt. Unfortunately all of these behaviors can result in a gambling addiction and financial trouble.

If someone gambles in order to make themselves feel good with a rush of adrenaline, or due to a lack of dopamine regularly being created by the brain, there can be worrying outcomes. If gambling leads to debt, a person who started as depressed may lead themselves even further down the rabbit hole. You can understand how any addiction can become a vicious cycle, which many struggle to make their way out of. That is why it is vital to inform yourself and to reach out when support is needed.

Resources for Problem Gaming

If you are worried about problem gaming, there are many ways you can find support. For one, you can speak to a general practitioner about your concerns and they may be able to refer you to a specialist to diagnose issues. As we explained, problem gambling is often connected to other mental health issues, so you may want to pursue treatment through talk therapy or a medical prescription. Many have found cognitive behavioral therapies helpful for addictions of various kinds.

As with drug and alcohol addictions, there are many books and podcasts available to help those struggling to leave problematic behaviors behind. There are also support groups. Talking about issues with other people and finding accountability in a group setting can go a long way towards recovering from any type of addiction. Finally, in the US, the NCPG has a free, confidential 24-hour hotline available to call.