The smartphone game encourages "unsuccessful" bets

The "ubiquitous" game on smartphones and the lack of regulation represent a potential danger for people with addiction problems.

A study at the University of Nottingham tracked participants playing a simulated mobile game app. The players were watched to see how long they persevered against the defeats.

The research, published in the academic journal European research on addictions, showed that most participants continued to play after it was no longer possible to win – a player placing 177 additional bets.

The study, titled "Gambling on Smartphones: Study of Potentially Addictive Behavior in a Naturalistic Setting", was conducted by Dr. Richard James of the School of Psychology at the University of California. Nottingham, Professor Richard Tunney of Birmingham Aston University and Professor Claire O Malley at Durham University.

Examine the game behavior

Dr. James programmed the application and then collected and badyzed the data. "We wanted to learn about mobile gaming for the first time by getting people to play for a few weeks on a simulated gaming app every day, and we measured how rewarding the results were by using break times between games. how we expected players to have more breaks between games, but we did not think that people would be more inclined to play after winning, nor that it would be badociated with the size of the win.

These results show how behavioral measures taken over the phone can be used to examine gambling behavior, particularly when the Gambling Commission and GambleAware seek to make available to researchers data on gambling industry gaming. The results of this study should be used to generate testable hypotheses, which can in turn be used to guide an evidence-based policy. "

Previous documents from the same team laid the foundation for this study. Apart from their work, very little research has been done on mobile gaming. This is the first empirical study on mobile gaming.

A problem for society?

The results indicate that smartphone games could be problematic for society, because of the ease with which psychologically addicted people can access wagering games on their mobile phones – without ever having to set foot in a mobile phone. Paris store.

Study participants downloaded the simulated scratch card type game application that recorded their behavior on the screen. Gains were badociated with longer breaks between games and a higher probability of ending a game session, while near misses – when players scored two out of three symbols in a row – encouraged further attempts . However, during a pre-programmed period of unavoidable losses, most participants continued to play. In the most extreme case, a player played 177 more times after a chance to win reduced to zero.

The research team found that because users frequently check their phones throughout the day (called "snacks"), mobile gamers tend to continue to bet more, even in the event of repeated losses.

Individual behavioral variations among participants appeared to be influenced by subclinical compulsive gambling and thrill seeking. This raises the possibility of using application data on the frequency and duration of smartphone gaming to identify problem gambling behaviors.

The research did not directly compare the addictive nature of games of chance on smartphones with fixed-odds betting terminals.

Professor Richard Tunney, head of psychology at Aston University, said: "The players think that the smartphone game is rather harmless, because the gains are generally very modest and considered a rather harmless entertainment. moreover, political decision makers have cracked fixed-line terminals because they are badociated in the public imagination with problem gamblers, but we are in fact overwhelmed by technology because it is now possible for people to play Anytime, anywhere on their smartphone. prone to adopt addictive behaviors, it means that a point of sale for this addiction is now at hand. Therefore, although these games may seem non-threatening, they are potentially more dangerous precisely because they are so ubiquitous.There are virtually no restrictions on smartphone games and, because the companies themselves are often based in other countries, it is extremely difficult to regulate them. difficult."

Provided by
University of Nottingham