While gambling is often viewed as a way to earn money and beat the system, it can also have social and emotional consequences. Whether young people engage in gambling is not clearly understood. Many participants discuss the benefits of gambling and the negative impact it has on their future. In addition, many argue that gambling is an acceptable activity for young adults, who have no other financial obligations and have good self-control. This gap in knowledge may be addressed through discourse analysis.
While gambling may be addictive, participants generally dismiss the negative effects, such as impulsiveness, as well as the notion of luck. While it is true that familiarity breeds naiveté, participants still admitted to setting limits. These participants’ personal disengagement from harm minimisation warnings may reflect a partial understanding of the messages. However, despite the negative effects of gambling, many still engage in gambling if they could afford it.
In this study, researchers analyzed religious and state-level data to examine gambling attitudes. They used state-lottery data from the U.S. census bureau to measure acceptance, and they compared those results to their own. They also looked at public company financial disclosures to determine whether companies intentionally misrepresented their financial results. Overall, the results indicate that American citizens are open-minded about gambling. And there’s plenty of room for further research.