The Negative Impacts of Gambling
Whether it’s betting on a football match or playing a scratchcard, gambling is the wagering of something of value (including money) on a random event with the intention of winning a prize. It’s a risky and addictive behaviour. Compulsive gamblers often try to recover losses by going into debt or, in extreme cases, resort to illegal activities to fund their habit. Their behavior can also harm their relationships, straining friendships, marriages and families. It’s important to note that gambling is a psychological addiction, so treatment and recovery can be complicated.
Gambling has some positive impacts on society, for example, it helps generate jobs and revenue for governments, which can help improve overall living standards. It also increases self-esteem and gives people a sense of achievement when they win. However, the negative aspects of gambling can be overlooked if you’re not careful.
One of the main problems with gambling is that it leads to irrational beliefs. This is due to the fact that humans are generally poor at processing probability and judging randomness. Moreover, the various features of gambling games foster these irrational beliefs, for instance, players prefer sequences without long runs of heads or tails on a coin toss over balanced overall frequencies of heads and tails (Tversky and Kahneman 1971). In addition, a lot of research shows that focusing only on problem gambling and ignoring non-problematic gamblers overlooks the real costs and benefits of gambling.
