Title : Gambling on your smartphone poses a huge risk of addiction, experts say
link : Gambling on your smartphone poses a huge risk of addiction, experts say
Gambling on your smartphone poses a huge risk of addiction, experts say
Gambling on your smartphone poses a greater risk of addiction than ‘crack cocaine’ fixed-odds betting terminals found in bookies, experts say
- Experts say smartphone users are conditioned to be constantly on their handset
- That makes them vulnerable to excessive time spent on risky gambling apps
- Scientists created a gambling app that stopped paying out after six weeks
- Despite this people in the study kept playing for many days afterwards
- In the most extreme case one person kept placing 177 losing bets in a row
Smartphone gambling apps could be more dangerous than fixed-odds betting terminals described as the 'crack cocaine' of gambling, a leading psychologist has warned.
People who gamble on their phones keep betting long after they stop winning, a study has found.
In the worst case, someone placed almost 180 losing bets in a row, amid fears smartphones encourage addictive behaviour.
Professor Richard Tunney, who led the study into a scratchcard-style gambling app, said these games fall 'under the radar'.
The Daily Mail has led a campaign to cut the amount of money gamblers can stake on fixed-odds betting terminals, likened to cocaine by some critics because they are so addictive.
But experts say smartphone users are also vulnerable to gambling because we are already conditioned to be constantly on our phones.
Scroll down for video
Smartphone gambling apps could be more dangerous than fixed-odds betting terminals (pictured) described as the 'crack cocaine' of gambling, a leading psychologist has warned. People who gamble on their phones keep betting long after they stop winning, a study has found (stock image)
Professor Richard Tunney, head of psychology at Aston University, said: 'Policymakers have clamped down hard on fixed-odds terminals because they've become associated in the public imagination with problem gamblers.
'But actually, we've been overtaken by technology, because it's now possible for people to gamble pretty much anywhere, any time on their smartphone. For people psychologically disposed to addictive behaviours, this means an outlet for that addiction is now just a tap away.
'So while these games may look non-threatening, they're potentially more dangerous precisely because they're so ubiquitous.' The study asked people to use their smartphone like a scratch card, swiping away a grey rectangle to reveal three symbols.
As on a pub fruit machine, three matching symbols like cherries or lemons won them a maximum of 30 pence. These winnings mounted up, with one person winning £93 in total.
To test how addictive the game was, researchers stopped it from paying out six weeks into the experiment, so people could only lose.
But the 28 people in the study kept playing for days afterwards, with one person placing 177 losing bets in a row.
The average was for people to place 40 losing bets in a row, despite losing money.
The study found they bet again more quickly after a 'near-miss' with two but not the winning three symbols.
Experts say smartphone users are vulnerable to gambling because we are already conditioned to be constantly on our phones (stock image)
Professor Tunney said: 'My concern is that we have focused on fixed odds betting terminals, which affect a relatively small number of people, and meanwhile, under the radar, this technology has spread gambling throughout society.
'We know people repeatedly pick up their phones, known as "snacking", when they are waiting for a bus or for the kettle to boil. This could normalise someone picking up their phone to put on many bets a day.
'From a legislative point of view, there are pretty much no restrictions on smartphone gambling.'
The 12-week study, published in the journal European Addiction Research, set people a limit of 100 bets a day. Across the study group, when people were losing, they were far less likely to stop gambling before that point.
While winning people voluntarily stopped 301 times, those with 'near-miss' results of two winning symbols only did so 114 times.
These people showed no concerning gambling behaviours, with the study concluding: 'Whereas it has been shown that the primary risk of internet gambling is to people already addicted to gambling, mobile gambling's behavioural profile suggests a risk towards a wider proportion of the population.'
The people in the study, who placed 51 bets each on average, used the app at home, work and less frequently in social situations.
Thus Article Gambling on your smartphone poses a huge risk of addiction, experts say
You are now reading the article Gambling on your smartphone poses a huge risk of addiction, experts say with the link address https://coneknews.blogspot.com/2019/02/gambling-on-your-smartphone-poses-huge.html
0 Response to "Gambling on your smartphone poses a huge risk of addiction, experts say"
Post a Comment