![Sample our Sports and Leisure journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5949/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Sports-Leisure.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
Psychological needs are satisfied through leisure participation, which in turn influences subjective well-being. The present study explored the psychological needs reported to be satisfied through gambling participation and examined associations between need satisfaction, game preferences and subjective well-being. A heterogeneous, self-selected sample of 1446 participants was recruited, through the Internet gambling provider Kindred Group Plc, for an online questionnaire survey. Five psychological need dimensions of gambling were identified, using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on calibration and validation samples, respectively: mastery, detachment, self-affirmation, risk and excitement, and affiliation. Challenge and mastery need satisfaction was higher for poker than for sports betting, horse racing, slots or casino table games; both self-affirmation and affiliation were also higher for poker than for sports betting and slots. By comparison, detachment was higher for slots than for sports gambling. While there were no significant variations in stress levels between the different forms of gambling, happiness ratings were lower for slots compared with sports betting and poker. This study provides insight into how distinctive patterns of play may satisfy different psychological needs and provides preliminary insights into how gambling patterns may prove adaptive or maladaptive as leisure choices.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Maris Bonello and Kindred Group Plc who participated in the study.
Competing interests
Kindred Group Plc administered the survey and provided the research team with the behavioural data of people who took the survey and agreed for their behavioural data to be released. Kindred Group Plc did not have any input on the research design, methodology, analysis or write-up. They also did not provide any constraints on publishing.
Jonathan Parke has carried out research and education activities for organizations directly and indirectly benefiting from gambling, including governments, charities and industry operators. He has received grant funding in the past three years from the GambleAware, and Kindred Group Plc.
Robert Williams has received funding support in the past three years from the Alberta Gambling Research Institute, Canadian Consortium for Gambling Research, Massachusetts Gaming Commission, and Kindred Group Plc.
Peter Schofield has received no funding support in the last three years.
Constraints on publishing
Kindred Group Plc placed no constraints on publishing this research.
Supplementary material
Supplementary material for this article can be accessed here.
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Jonathan Parke
Jonathan Parke Dr. Parke is the Director of the consumer research hub Sophro Ltd., and visiting Professor at the University of Salford. He also served as Director of Commissioning for the Responsible Gambling Trust (RGT) in Great Britain and Director of Programs for gambling studies at the University of Salford. Jonathan has served as principal investigator on a variety of government, industry and research council sponsored research projects most of which focusing on gambling behaviour. His career objective is to impact society by informing political, commercial and clinical activities through gambling research.
Robert J. Williams
Robert J. Williams Dr. Williams teaches courses on gambling; provides frequent consultation to government, industry, the media and public interest groups, regularly gives expert witness testimony on the impacts of gambling and is one of the world best funded gambling researchers. He is a leading authority in the areas of prevention of problem gambling, internet gambling, the socioeconomics impacts of gambling, the proportion of gambling revenue deriving from problem gamblers, the prevalence and nature of gambling in Aboriginal communities, the etiology of problem gambling and best practices in the population assessment of problem gambling.
Peter Schofield
Peter Schofield Dr. Schofield is Professor in Services Management at Sheffield Hallam University and leads research in the Department of Service Sector Management. He has published extensively in, and reviews for, a range of leading international journals. His research and consultancy interests include consumer decision making and behaviour, services management and place marketing, with a particular focus on compulsive purchasing behaviour, service failure and recovery and place brand personality.