Gambling as a function of gender and Sensation Seeking

Abstract

This study examined the relation of gender and Sensation Seeking (SS) Scale scores to undergraduates' ratings of their past/present and expected future participation in four leisure activities that usually involve betting money. Subjects completed McKeachnie's (1975) Leisure Activities Blank (LAB), which included the gambling items, and Zuckerman's (1979) SS Scale. Men reported significantly more past/present leisure gambling than women; gender differences were insignificant in ratings of expected future gambling. No significant differences in reported past/present gambling related to any SS scale score. However, expected future gambling ratings were associated with scores on two SS subscales: Disinhibition (DIS) and Boredom Susceptibility (BS). Both male and female subjects with high DIS scores rated the frequency of expected future gambling higher than did subjects with low DIS scores. High BS scores were associated with high ratings of expected future gambling in the data for women subjects only. These results suggest that personality factors, among them SS, are more influential than early experience or sex-role socialization in determining a young adult's interest in gambling.