Alcohol Myopia and Gambling Behavior

Abstract

Alcohol and gambling are ubiquitous in our daily lives. In many movies for example that feature gambling, alcohol is often part of the scene, but gambling and alcohol often occur together in real life as well. Gambling is a popular pastime in parts of society, often in conjunction with alcohol consumption. A common assumption is that the consumption of alcohol makes risk behaviors such as gambling behavior more likely and leads to higher monetary stakes. Drawing on alcohol myopia theory (Steele & Josephs, 1990), stating that alcohol makes behavior more extreme depending on which cues are salient in the environment, I investigated whether acute alcohol intake fosters persistence in slot machine gambling when the high rewards of winning are salient but reduces persistence when the low chances of winning are salient. In an online study (Study 1), I developed a salience manipulation that was perceived as salient. In two more studies, participants consumed either alcohol (vs. a placebo) in the laboratory (Study 2) or I measured the blood alcohol content of bar patrons in the field (Study 3). Thereafter, participants gambled with a computerized slot machine on which I made either the high rewards or the low chances of winning salient by presenting eye-catching slogans. Making the high rewards salient led alcohol-intoxicated participants gamble more persistently, and making the low chances salient led them to gamble less persistently than sober participants. In Study 2, I also tracked participants’ eye-movements and found that intoxicated participants’ longer attention to the salient slogans mediated the effect of acute alcohol intake on more vs. less persistent gambling. Apparently, features of the gambling environment may enhance or reduce gambling in participants who consumed alcohol. Designing the gambling environment accordingly may be an effective nudge to reduce ongoing gambling.