Men Prefer Gambling Over Sex Recent Study Reveals: There's an App for That

Written by:
Jagajeet Chiba
Published on:
Nov/25/2013
Men Prefer Gambling Over Sex Recent Study Reveals

A recent study conducted in the Netherlands has determined that our brains are programmed to pursue easy money over easy women.

The study, titled Pathological choice: the neuroscience of gambling and gambling addiction, was commissioned by the Radboud University Nijmegen.  It measured brain activities of two focus groups, one of which were made up of pathological gamblers, the other made up of non-gamblers.  Each were asked to press a button as fast as they could to either win cash or view scantily clad women.  The result: gamblers responded 4 percent faster to the money aspect.

Lead researcher Guillaume Sescousse concluded that part of the brain that responds to sex lit up when they were prompted by money while gamblers showed diminished responses in the region of the brain that processes reward upon viewing erotic images of women.

The study did not appear to take into account whether respondents were straight or gay, however.

“I'm a cognitive neuroscientist interested in reward processing and risky decision-making,” Dr. Sescousse states.  “I'm particularly interested in how those processes are disrupted in various psychiatric disorders, including pathological gambling and anorexia nervosa. I use a combination of neuroimaging techniques (fMRI and PET), pharmacological manipulations, and behavioral approaches derived from experimental economics.”

Other addiction studies presented on the Gambling911.com website have drawn the connections between sex, gambling and smartphones.

Gambling911.con Senior International Correspondent Jenny Woo observed recently that men tended to keep their phones in their pocket usually on vibrate or with both ringer and vibrate and when they don’t have their phone in their pocket they still feel that vibrating sensation on their thigh.

"They’re so used to having their phones in their pocket that they’ll have the phantom vibrating sensation,” said Addiction and Recovery expert, Dr. Elizabeth Waterman, Psy.D, from Morningside Recovery Center in California. “Yeah, it’s something that people have talked about.”

Smartphones, in many instances, have helped perpetuated sex and gambling addictions.

"In today’s age with smartphones, you can go onto a gambling site," Woo points out.  "Those who are sex addicts are going to a porn site for example."

Woo asked the doctor if this a recent surge tied into culmination of these other addictions, including gambling?

"It definitely can be tied in," noted Dr. Waterman.  "You’re exactly right. We have a gambling addiction track here and people with gambling problems will use their phones to connect with bookies. They’ll use it to do a variety of things in which that perpetuates their gambling issue. Another thing is a shopping addiction. People with shopping addictions can use their phone to access any store or site that sells stuff."

Hence, smartphone usage makes it much easier for addictive personalities to achieve rewards with the mere touch of a button.

And there may be an app for that….or something close at least.

Is text messaging an effective way to deliver an intervention to reduce gambling among college students?  That’s just one of the studies awarded a piece of $751,951 by The National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) this year to support seven new research projects that will answer these questions and help improve methods of diagnosis, intervention, treatment and prevention of gambling disorders.

“Efficacy of a Brief Motivational Intervention Delivered via Smartphone and Short Messaging Service” – Matthew Martens, Ph.D., of the University of Missouri-Columbia, was awarded $171,350 to expand on his work from a previous NCRG grant. Dr. Martens will test the efficacy of a novel Brief Motivational Intervention (BMI) designed to reduce gambling among college students. This intervention will be delivered via smartphone devices (i.e., cell phones with comprehensive web applications) and short messaging service (SMS) technology.

Money was also being distributed to a study similar in scope conducted by Dr. Sescousse.

“Social Influences on the Development of Risky Choice” – Scott A. Huettel, Ph.D., of Duke University, was awarded $172,358 to study the emerging perspective that adolescence is associated with increased sensitivity to rewards, which places them particularly at risk for disorders including pathological responses to rewarding outcomes (e.g., gambling disorders).

- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com

Gambling News

How to Withdraw Funds From Online Casinos?

Navigating the world of online gambling, especially when it comes to withdrawing your winnings, can seem daunting at first. However, with the right knowledge and understanding, the process can be smooth and secure.

Syndicate