IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v272y2021ics027795362100006x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“You don't really see the dangers of it at the time.” Risk perceptions and behaviours of older female gamblers

Author

Listed:
  • McCarthy, Simone
  • Thomas, Samantha L.
  • Pitt, Hannah
  • Bellringer, Maria E.

Abstract

Older women are vulnerable to the risks associated with some forms of gambling. While research has examined how individuals functionally interact with gambling products, very limited research has investigated how individuals conceptualise and interpret the risks associated with these products. Theorists suggest that risk-taking is not based on a lack of knowledge but on the different ways people make sense of their lives. As such, this study aimed to understand the factors that may influence how older women who gamble on electronic gambling machines (EGMs) perceive the risks associated with gambling on these products. It examined how risk perceptions interacted with a range of complex social factors in women’s everyday lives to influence their risk behaviours. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 Australian women aged 55 and over who had been negatively impacted by EGM gambling. This study found that older women’s risk perceptions of gambling were shaped by their early recreational experiences with gambling, rather than their current regular and harmful gambling behaviours. Risk perceptions of EGMs were often downplayed or ignored as women sought to maintain valued social identities within the venues. Women went through a process of risk negotiation whereby the benefits of this social interaction outweighed the potential harms associated with the machines. This also led them to deflect or ignore risk minimisation messaging which was completely focused on individual behaviours. This study signals the importance of moving away from individualised responsible gambling messages towards risk information about gambling products. This research also provides evidence of the need for regulation addressing the design features of EGMs that ultimately may make products safer and protect the most vulnerable from gambling harm.

Suggested Citation

  • McCarthy, Simone & Thomas, Samantha L. & Pitt, Hannah & Bellringer, Maria E., 2021. "“You don't really see the dangers of it at the time.” Risk perceptions and behaviours of older female gamblers," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 272(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:272:y:2021:i:c:s027795362100006x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113674
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027795362100006X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113674?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Markham, Francis & Doran, Bruce & Young, Martin, 2016. "The relationship between electronic gaming machine accessibility and police-recorded domestic violence: A spatio-temporal analysis of 654 postcodes in Victoria, Australia, 2005–2014," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 106-114.
    2. Samson Tse & Song-Iee Hong & Chong-Wen Wang & Renee M. Cunningham-Williams, 2012. "Gambling Behavior and Problems Among Older Adults: A Systematic Review of Empirical Studies," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 67(5), pages 639-652.
    3. Jens O. Zinn, 2019. "The meaning of risk-taking – key concepts and dimensions," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(1), pages 1-15, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andrew Kirby, 2022. "The Right to Make Mistakes? The Limits to Adaptive Planning for Climate Change," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, June.
    2. Hai Luo & Megan Ferguson, 2017. "Gambling among culturally diverse older adults: a systematic review of qualitative and quantitative data," International Gambling Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(2), pages 290-316, May.
    3. Dahmann, Sarah C. & Kettlewell, Nathan & Lam, Jack, 2022. "Parental Separation and the Formation of Economic Preferences," IZA Discussion Papers 14993, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Paulette J. O’Gilvie, 2023. "The effects of casino proximity and time on poverty levels in New York City," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-9, December.
    5. Deans, Emily G. & Thomas, Samantha L. & Daube, Mike & Derevensky, Jeffrey, 2016. "“I can sit on the beach and punt through my mobile phone”: The influence of physical and online environments on the gambling risk behaviours of young men," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 110-119.
    6. Margo Hilbrecht & Steven E. Mock, 2019. "Low-Risk, Moderate-Risk, and Recreational Gambling Among Older Adults: Self-Complexity as a Buffer for Quality of Life," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 14(5), pages 1205-1227, November.
    7. Alicia Monreal-Bartolomé & Alberto Barceló-Soler & Javier García-Campayo & Cruz Bartolomé-Moreno & Paula Cortés-Montávez & Esther Acon & María Huertes & Víctor Lacasa & Sofía Crespo & Daniel Lloret-Ir, 2023. "Preventive Gambling Programs for Adolescents and Young Adults: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-32, March.
    8. Soane, Emma & Aufegger, Lisa, 2024. "Changing risk-taking: the effects of tasks and incentives on the variability of risk-taking," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 124339, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Souhila Belabbas & Jakub Bijak & Ariana Modirrousta-Galian & Sarah Nurse, 2022. "From Conflict Zones to Europe: Syrian and Afghan Refugees’ Journeys, Stories, and Strategies," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(4), pages 211-221.
    10. Mercedes Camarero, 2021. "Risk and Vulnerability Differences Across the European Union Based on an Accidental-Injury Proneness Index," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 157(1), pages 335-360, August.
    11. Paulette J. O’Gilvie, 2022. "The impact of casino proximity on northeast urban communities: a literature review," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-9, December.
    12. Giuliano Resce & Raffaele Lagravinese & Elisa Benedetti & Sabrina Molinaro, 2019. "Income-related inequality in gambling: evidence from Italy," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 1107-1131, December.
    13. Roser Granero & Susana Jiménez-Murcia & Fernando Fernández-Aranda & Amparo del Pino-Gutiérrez & Teresa Mena-Moreno & Gemma Mestre-Bach & Mónica Gómez-Peña & Laura Moragas & Neus Aymamí & Isabelle Giro, 2020. "Presence of problematic and disordered gambling in older age and validation of the South Oaks Gambling Scale," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(5), pages 1-22, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:272:y:2021:i:c:s027795362100006x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.