Instrumental tool or drug: Relationship between attitudes to money and problem gambling

Abstract

Few studies have explored gamblers’ attitudes towards money despite the central role money plays in the development and maintenance of problem gambling (PG) behaviours. This study explored attitudinal differences towards money among subgroups of electronic gaming machine players (n = 127) using the framework advanced by Lea and Webley . Money as tool, money as drug: The biological psychology of a strong incentive. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 29:161–209]: the Tool Theory, in which money functions instrumentally as a means of obtaining certain commodities, and the Drug Theory, in which money is considered to exert action at a neurochemical level to produce reinforcing effects similar to drug use. Findings provided preliminary support for the Drug Theory in PG. In contrast to non-problem gamblers, problem gamblers reported significant obsessions with money as an important indicator of prestige, power and means of acquiring wealth. At the same time, however, problem gamblers endorsed high levels of anxiety over money, both in regard to worrying about money and viewing money as a way to reduce anxiety. The study also provided limited support for the hypothesis that non-problem gamblers were more likely to gamble to combat perceived inadequacy in providing for their families (i.e. Tool Theory), although differences in univariate analyses were not sustained in logistic regression analyses.