Cognitive distortions as a problem gambling risk factor in Internet gambling

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of cognitive distortions in Internet gambling. The primary objectives were to determine whether cognitive distortions predict Internet gambling and investigate whether distorted gambling-related cognitions are associated with problem gambling severity among online gamblers. Three hundred and seventy four undergraduate participants (143 online gamblers, 172 males) completed an online questionnaire looking at demographics, play-related variables (duration, frequency and expenditures of play) and cognitive distortions. Variables were entered into a logistic regression model to predict online gambling. Three variables made independent contributions to predicting Internet gambling: male gender, higher frequency of play, and cognitive distortions. A hierarchical linear regression analysis with Internet gamblers revealed that cognitive distortions accounted for a proportion of the variance in problem gambling severity beyond variance accounted for by demographic variables and level of gambling involvement. Results suggest that cognitive distortions are a risk factor in online gambling.     

Misinterpreting ‘winning’ in multiline slot machine games

On multiline slot machines, ‘wins’ often amount to less than the spin wager, resulting in a monetary loss to the gambler. Nevertheless, these losses disguised as wins (LDWs) are accompanied by potentially reinforcing audiovisual feedback. A concern for gambling behaviour is whether or not players categorize LDWs as wins or losses, as miscategorization could effectively increase the reinforcement rate of these games. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether novice gamblers psychologically miscategorize LDWs. Forty-seven novices (undergraduate students) played 200 spins on an actual slot machine with credits, then estimated how often they won. It was found that the more LDWs players were exposed to, the higher their win estimates. In a subsequent ‘think out loud’ playing session, the majority of novices also verbally miscategorized LDWs as wins. We conclude that LDWs could increase the reinforcement rate of these games, despite not increasing the payout to the gambler.     

Gamblers can discriminate ‘tight’ from ‘loose’ electronic gambling machines

All slot machines make money over time, but the payouts to the players can differ. ‘Loose’ machines pay out more than ‘tight’ machines. Gamblers (n = 1402) at Ontario slots venues were assessed using the Problem Gambling Severity Index. Their beliefs about slots were polled using the Informational Biases Scale. Problem gamblers were more likely than non-problem and at-risk gamblers to endorse the belief that ‘some slot machines keep me from winning because they are programmed to produce fewer wins than normal’. We then showed that after extensive play (60 hours), 9 out of 10 gamblers were able to correctly discriminate a ‘loose’ machine (98% payback) from a ‘tight’ machine (85% payback). Problem gamblers' assertions that there are ‘loose’ and ‘tight’ machines demonstrate a belief rooted in reality. The ability to distinguish ‘loose’ from ‘tight’ machines may be interpreted as a skill by players. Such skill, when overestimated, may lead to erroneous cognitions.     

Manipulating diversity: How diversity regimes at US universities can reinforce whiteness

As US universities attempt to accommodate a growing multicultural society, the task of racially diversifying entering cohorts and retaining a racially diverse student demographic has taken on a leading role in recruitment, college admissions, and campus programming. But, we ask, what definitions of racial diversity are fueling these changes and how have existing racial diversity regimes impacted racial/ethnic hierarchies? We analyze two widespread applications of racial diversity—racial diversity as benefit for all and racial diversity as status marker—to illustrate how racial diversity regimes can be manipulated in ways that undermine the contributions of racially/ethnically minoritized groups and reinforce a racial order that privileges Whiteness—particularly when framed around interest convergence. We conclude by discussing the importance of articulating more concrete racial diversity objectives, addressing structural contributors to racial inequity, and measuring diversity outcomes.     

Games of chance or masters of illusion: multiline slots design may promote cognitive distortions

Problem gamblers often have distorted beliefs about gambling, including illusion of control and gambler's fallacy. Most multiline slots games allow players to adjust the number of wagered paylines and the amount bet per line, and over time this control may support incorrect conclusions and promote distorted gambling beliefs. We created software to run simulations of a popular multiline slots game and examined the effects of betting on single versus multiple paylines. Simultaneous multiline betting tends to produce a less varied gambling experience because it increases the frequency of legitimate wins and ‘losses disguised as wins’, while decreasing the occurrence of ‘big wins’. It also shortens consecutive series of losing spins and it prolongs the time a typical player takes to exhaust funds. Indirect control over losing streaks may give some players the false impression that they can play skilfully and predict the occurrence of wins. However, applying five different wagering strategies in our simulations showed that none had any real effect on the average percentage of wagers that would be ‘paid back’ to players as prizes. Player control over multiline slots games may lead frequent gamblers to incorrect conclusions that sustain excessive play despite recurring losses.     

Travelling concepts and crossing paths: a conceptual history of identity

The concept of identity is ubiquitous in public discourse even though its meaning is often imprecise or nebulous – it is maybe because of this that its contents can be taken for granted. One speaks of individual, personal, group, social, collective and political identity; of identity formation, crisis, diffusion, conflict and politics; a multiple identity may be pathological or a component of an integrated identity; culture and ideology but also knowledge and experience supposedly enrich identity; identity may be rigid or open to development and growth – and so on. Against this background the present paper explores the argumentative uses of the concept of identity in psychoanalysis and in social psychology and sociology.     

Menstrual time: The sociocognitive mapping of “the menstrual cycle”

Despite the many angles from which the biological phenomenon now known as “the menstrual cycle” has been addressed, no work explicitly focuses on how social groups actually draw lines around and mentally partition these complex biological processes into discrete temporal units. This paper examines not the meaning of “the menstrual cycle,” per se, but hegemonic Western culture's intersubjective notions of how to carve up this inherently unstructured phenomenon in the first place. Although sociologists of cognition have still to consider this sociomental structuring of “the menstrual cycle” as a case of mental cartography, and sociologists of time have still to consider “menstrual time” as a case of sociotemporality, I conclude that the mental mapping out of what constitutes the elements of this rhythm is a highly social act with serious implications for women's lives.     

“The First Mark of Pain”: Toward a child-centered methodological reorientation of social theory,race and corporal punishment in American life

The current white supremacist racial order in America fundamentally relies on fear and pain to shape the subjectivities of Black people in childhood. This violence is most visible when enacted by police officers against unarmed Black youth. A less visible yet more pernicious form of racist violence against Black children is exercised by community proxies such as Black teachers and parents. Annual government reports reveal that Black children are more likely to be injured or killed by their parents than by police. In this paper we inquire as to why, despite the many Black writers who have described parental violence as an intergenerational re-enactment of the violence of slavery, and despite decades of research on the harms of hitting children, social theorists have not analyzed how Black parents can serve as proxies for white supremacist violence. We argue that Black parenting culture has in many ways internalized the white supremacist view that corporal punishment is required to instill the discipline necessary to spare Black youth from police violence and incarceration. We conclude that until social scientists foreground the voices of Black youth in their studies, rather than adults, our ability to understand and confront the reproduction of white supremacist violence will be impeded. We argue that the physical punishment of children in Black families is an aspect of the legacy or “afterlife” of slavery. We contend that this omission persists because Black youth voices are absent from social analysis on the issue of physical punishment, existing only in clinical studies divorced from macro-sociological analysis, and we discuss how this omission occurred as a matter of scholarly history.     

Transmission of Ideology Through Film: The Cinematic Construction of Gendered Domination in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

Contemporary applications of behavioral and social science to the understanding of how cinematic narratives influence viewers tend to be bifurcated. Cognitive film/media theorists and psychologists emphasize microlevel processes at the expense of the macrolevel. Sociological approaches emphasize macrolevel analysis at the expense of the microlevel. Bridging these two levels is the mesolevel concept of identification elaborated to apply to stereotypic role relationships; that is, schemas or associative networks linking thoughts, memories, emotions, and behaviors. Here assumptions of Social Cognitive Theory and Transactional Analysis are employed to contextualize a discussion of how cinematic narrative can operate to construct an ideologically hegemonic narrative reinforcing the legitimation of gendered domination at the sociocultural (macro)level of analysis.     

Marital Separation/Divorce

A review of the literature was conducted to determine the current knowledge base regarding the impact of marital separation or divorce on the individual. The review focused on the literature in psychiatry, psychology, and social work, but also included related disciplines, such as family law. The findings indicate a focusing of research questions since the early 1970's, particularly in defining the process of divorce and differential impact of the various stages across gender. However, some gaps still exist within the literature, pointing toward additional research questions, such as in the area of treatment, and the impact of initiator status.     

Men in Families

No abstract available for this article.     

The “fetus-infant”: Changing classifications ofIn Utero development in medical texts

This paper examines several aspects of the changing cultural classifications of reproduction through a close reading of obstetrics textbooks. Through the discursive construction of the fetus in obstetric texts, medical accounts are beginning to classify the fetus as a baby. In investigating this transformation, I focus upon two cognitive processes: the splitting of the fetus apart from the pregnant woman and the concurrent lumping of two distinct mental entities—a fetus and an infant into one new medical category: the fetus-infant. In addition, textual evidence shows a shift in cognitive orientation away from classifying fetuses based on gestational age to an emphasis on what I term functional age. Further, new knowledge enables physicians to affect functional age, making the fetus with mature function in utero conceptually no different from a baby. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the American Sociological Association Meeting, Washington, DC, August, 1995.     

Development and validation of the Protective Gambling Beliefs Scale (PGBS)

This article aimed to develop and validate a measure of protective beliefs – distinct from the absence of erroneous beliefs – that may be associated with resistance to gambling problems. Study 1 was designed to determine the reliability and content validity of a preliminary set of protective belief items. Participants (N = 1479, 813 males) also completed the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI). Most items were associated with reduced risk of problems; however, items relating to an awareness of gambling harm, and preparedness to lose money were positively correlated with gambling problems and were therefore not demonstrably protective. Study 2 sought to reduce scale size and assess the scale’s ability to predict risk of gambling problems. Participants (N = 1168, 625 males) completed belief items, the PGSI, and measures of gambling consumption and cognitive distortions. Results showed that endorsement of protective beliefs was negatively correlated with PGSI, gambling consumption and cognitive distortions, and predicted PGSI above that of cognitive distortions. Findings suggest that the Protective Gambling Beliefs Scale (PGBS) offers a unique tool for understanding resistance to the development of gambling problems. Future research should focus on exploring whether protective beliefs can diminish the likelihood of the onset of problem gambling.     

When Futures Meet the Present

In this essay, I respond to Mische's work on projection and the research of future action. Further, I suggest a tri-partite framework of mechanisms—one I have termed political semiosis—that allows historical actors to materially and figuratively reorient and realign the past, present, and future in projects of transformation.     

A novel way of responding to dissonance evoked by belief disconfirmation: making the wrongdoing of an opponent salient

ABSTRACT

Based on dissonance theory, we predicted that individuals who supported a political figure (Donald Trump), were exposed to information about his wrongdoings, and believed the veracity of this information would be most likely to share social media that points to incidents in which opponents also engaged in wrongdoing. Participants (N = 409) varying in their support for Trump were exposed to information concerning his alleged wrongdoings (or a neutral article). They viewed a meme of a political rival (Hilary Clinton) that alluded to her alleged wrongdoings, and reported how likely they would be to share the meme (and indicated how accurate they believed the Trump article was). Results supported the prediction, suggesting that dissonance may cause individuals to emphasize the wrongdoings of opponents.     

Priming Implicit Racism in Television News: Visual and Verbal Limitations on Diversity

We highlight an understudied aspect of racism in television news, implicit racial cues found in the contradictions between visual and verbal messages. We compare three television news broadcasts from the first week after Hurricane Katrina to reexamine race and representation during the disaster. Drawing together insights from interdisciplinary studies of cognition and sociological theories of race and racism, we examine how different combinations of the race of reporters and news sources relate to the priming of implicit racism. We find racial cues that are consistent with stereotypes and myths about African Americans—even in broadcasts featuring black reporters—but which appear only in the context of color‐blind verbal narration. We conclude by drawing attention to the unexpected and seemingly unintended reproduction of racial ideology.     

How to fight the ‘Methodenstreit’? Veblen and Weber on economics,psychology and action

There have been comparative discussions about Thorstein Veblen and Max Weber before, but not quite from the most appropriate viewpoint. The present paper treats them as theorists of action, in social and economic analysis, and this perspective yields some interesting new findings. Both theorists are to be taken as participants in the great Methodenstreit in economics, 100 years ago, and it is Veblen who suggests a more radical solution to this dispute, he suggests its final abolishment. The main difference between Veblen and Weber is in their respective appreciations of the role of psychology in social analysis. Weber does not think it important, but in so thinking he misses the viewpoint of evolutionary psychology that Veblen endorses. Accordingly, both of these classical thinkers are to be considered as theorists of action, but so that it is Veblen who proffers a more general theory.     

In School for After School: The Relationship Between Extracurricular Participation and School Engagement

School engagement predicts academic achievement and attainment, yet remains under‐theorized in the sociological literature. While psychologists describe three distinct yet mutually reinforcing categories of school engagement (behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement), sociologists have largely neglected to analyze cognitive engagement. Drawing on ethnographic observations and interviews with members of two debate teams in Chicago Public Schools, I demonstrate that behavioral engagement in the form of debate team participation helped foster debaters' cognitive and emotional engagement in school. Through the activity, debaters developed strong relationships with peers and their adult coaches, and strengthened their appreciation for challenging aspects of the learning process. Although many debaters felt that the learning environment of the debate context was more stimulating than the learning environments of their classes, they nevertheless applied the skills and attitudes they acquired in the activity to the “core” curriculum of the school. These factors help explain why debaters have been shown to outperform comparable peers in terms of academic achievement and attainment. These findings suggest that cognitive engagement is one mechanism driving the positive impact of certain extracurricular activities on students' school performance.     

Winners and Losers: Segmenting a Casino Loyalty Programme

Abstract

As the competition within the gaming industry continues to grow exponentially, casinos are using players club programmes as a key component of their marketing and loyalty programmes. This study investigates the relationships between casino players’ club programmes and its members. Through the use of data collected from a mail survey of 3,000 players’ club members, analyses were conducted to explore the impacts of these programmes on the creation of behavioural and attitudinal loyalty. The findings suggest fnr a number of loyalty programme members, these programmes have little impact on creating loyalty and their subsequent gaming behaviour.     

Verification of Self Using a Mathematical Theory of Identity,Feeling, and Behavior

The current study tests the affect control theory of self, a mathematical theory that demonstrates a core social psychological principle: individuals strive for a stable and coherent self through identity selection and behavior. In the affect control theory of self, the self is conceptualized as self‐sentiments, which are measured on three dimensions: evaluation (good/bad), potency (powerful/powerless), and activity (fast/slow). In a longitudinal sample of college men and women, I find the self‐sentiment predicts how individuals describe themselves on a range of terms, including primary emotions and both stigmatized and esteemed traits related to mental illness and self‐esteem. It also predicts various productive and deviant behaviors five months later. Thus, the current study demonstrates the theoretical precision of the theory, its ability for understanding human behavior, and its potential for identifying at‐risk individuals.