Attitudes of Jewish Israeli adults towards gambling

Abstract

This study examines the Jewish Israeli public's attitudes towards gambling, how they vary between various socio-demographic subgroups, and the association between gambling attitudes and gambling behaviour. In April 2014, 1000 Jewish Israeli adults (49.6% of them women) aged 18–67 (M = 40.28, SD = 14.07), responded to an online questionnaire that included the ATGS-8 (Attitudes Towards Gambling Scale), PGSI (Problem Gambling Severity Index) and gambling behaviour scales. The findings suggest that the Jewish Israeli public tends to have a negative attitude towards gambling – albeit less so among men and the secular population than among women and observant (Traditional, Religious or Orthodox) individuals, respectively. No significant differences were found between respondents with respect to age or levels of education. A positive association was found between attitudes and gambling behaviour, and differences were found between gambling severity categories, with low-risk gamblers exhibiting a more positive attitude towards gambling than non-problem gamblers. The findings of this study provide a snapshot of the attitudes of the Jewish Israeli public towards gambling, and may potentially provide a benchmark for further studies in Israel and elsewhere.

Keywords::

• gambling attitudes
• gambling behaviour
• Israel

Acknowledgement

The Author would like to thank Yasmin Alkalay for her statistical consultation.

Conflicts of interest

Funding sources: This study was partly supported by the Sara Peleg Foundation of Tel Aviv University.

Competing interests: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Constraints on publishing

None.

Notes

^1. The distributions of self-perceived religiosity and education before the weighting: secular: 50.5%, Traditional 26.1%, Religious 14.6% and Jewish Orthodox 8.8%; As for education: 34.3% of participants had up to 12 years of schooling; 34.5% had a matriculation certificate or tertiary-type B diploma; and 31.2% had an academic degree.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Belle Gavriel-Fried

Belle Gavriel-Fried is a lecturer in the Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel Aviv University. Her research interests include addictions, gambling, high-risk behaviours and social work practise.