The role of probability of success estimates in the sunk cost effect

The sunk cost effect is manifested in a tendency to continue an endeavor once an investment has been made. Arkes and Blumer (1985) showed that a sunk cost increases one's estimated probability that the endeavor will succeed [p(s)]. Is this p(s) increase a cause of the sunk cost effect, a consequence of the effect, or both? In Experiment 1 participants read a scenario in which a sunk cost was or was not present. Half of each group read what the precise p(s) of the project would be, thereby discouraging p(s) inflation. Nevertheless these participants manifested the sunk cost effect, suggesting p(s) inflation is not necessary for the effect to occur. In Experiment 2 participants gave p(s) estimates before or after the investment decision. The latter group manifested higher p(s), suggesting that the inflated estimate is a consequence of the decision to invest. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effectiveness of an attachment-based intervention for the assessment of parenting capacities in maltreating families: A randomized controlled trial

Even though Parenting Capacity Assessments (PCAs) are essential for child protection services to support placement decisions for maltreating families, presently no evidence-based PCA protocols are available. In this randomized controlled trial, we tested the quality of an attachment-based PCA protocol based on Video-feedback Intervention to promote Positive Parenting and Sensitive Discipline (VIPP-SD). We recruited 56 parent-child dyads (M_age children = 3.48 years) in Dutch family residential clinics that conduct PCAs to support placement decisions. After pretest, families were randomized to receive the Regular Assessment Procedure (RAP) (n = 28), or an additional assessment based on VIPP-SD (n = 28). An immediate post-test and a 10-month follow-up were conducted. Multilevel models showed that therapists felt equally confident about their recommendations regarding child placement for both groups and that they equally often modified their initial placement recommendations. Moreover, children in the VIPP-SD group did not show fewer behavior problems and did not experience recurring child maltreatment less often than children in the RAP group. Thus, we found no evidence that PCAs incorporating the VIPP-SD protocol outperformed PCAs as usual. We discuss possible explanations why in the current study VIPP-SD did not seem to add to the quality of the RAP.     

Risky decision making and cognitive flexibility among online sports bettors in Nigeria

Online sports betting is a popular recreational activity in Nigeria. Like other forms of gambling, risk of pathological progression exists for gamblers who continue betting despite severe financial and psychosocial consequences. In the present study, we examined whether this population of gamblers shows deficits in decision making and cognitive flexibility that have been documented in Western gambling populations. Thirty-six online sports bettors and 42 non-gambling participants completed a version of the Iowa gambling task (IGT) and an established set-shifting task for the assessment of cognitive flexibility. The two groups did not differ significantly in the selection of disadvantageous decks on the IGT. In contrast, sports bettors committed significantly more errors on the set-shifting task than non-gambling control participants. As this performance deficit was not specific to trials requiring a set shift, it most likely resulted from gambling-related changes in general cognitive or motivational abilities that are required to successfully complete challenging mental tasks. While our results illustrate that findings from Western populations cannot automatically be generalised to other contexts, it should be noted that we focused on only one particular type of gambling and included mostly participants with mild gambling-related problems.     

The Impact of Addictive Behaviors on Adolescents Psychological Well-Being: The Mediating Effect of Perceived Peer Support

Abstract

Studies exploring excessive Internet use and gambling are rapidly expanding concerns regarding its impact on mental health, especially in young people due to the increased prevalence of Internet and gambling addictions. Research suggests that perceived peer support plays a significant role in adolescents’ psychological well-being. However, no empirical study has dealt with the mediating effect of perceived peer support on the relationship between Internet and gambling addictions and psychological well-being. Thus, the present study aimed to examine whether perceived peer support mediates the relation between Internet and gambling addictions and psychological well-being of adolescents. A sample of 347 Iranian adolescents aged 14 to 18 (Mean age 16.14, 50.4% male) who were studying in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia participated in this study. Subjective Vitality Scale (SVS), Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS), Six-item Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ6), and The South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) were used to collect data. Mediation analyses showed a significant indirect effect of compulsive Internet use and problem gambling on psychological well-being through perceived peer support. The total effects of compulsive Internet use and problem gambling on psychological well-being were negative. This study implies the significance of strengthening the knowledge about the impact of peer relationships among adolescents.     

Pathological personality facets and emotion (dys)regulation in gambling disorder

A number of researches showed high prevalence of personality disorders among addicted gamblers. However, there are still few studies investigating the role of pathological personality facets in Gambling Disorder (GD). Moreover, the nature of the relationship between GD and pathological personality is not clear. We administered to a group of addicted gamblers (N = 79) and a group of healthy participants (N = 101) a battery of self-report questionnaires encompassing the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), The Personality Inventory for DSM-V (PID-5), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ). Analyses of variance showed that addicted gamblers, compared to healthy participants, scored higher on most of the subscales of the DERS, on the Suppression Dimension of the ERQ and on the five main domains of the PID-5 whereas they obtained lower scores on the Reappraisal subscale of the ERQ. Moreover, multiple regression analyses indicated that some specific facets of pathological personality, emotion dysregulation and lack of cognitive reappraisal, significantly predict GD's severity. Finally, emotion dysregulation levels and lack of cognitive reappraisal partially mediated the relationship between these and GD's severity. Our results confirmed the central roles played by both pathological personality and deficit in emotion regulation capacities in GD. Specifically, Impulsivity, Lack of Perseverance and Suspiciousness may be important predictors of GD severity. Moreover, emotion dysregulation and lack of adaptive emotion regulation strategies partially explained such relationship. As such, training for emotion regulation abilities appears strategically useful in the treatment of addicted gamblers with pathological personality traits.     

When “decoy effect” meets gender bias: The role of choice set composition in hiring decisions

A large body of research has found evidence that hiring decisions are frequently subject to strong gender bias and has explored factors that help to predict and prevent such a bias from occurring. In this paper, we explore a novel factor that has received only little attention: the composition of the choice set. Drawing on prior research on the attraction effect of decoys in consumer choice and personnel decisions, we posit that when decision makers need to decide whether to hire a male or a female applicant for a stereotypically male position, the presence of a third applicant whose profile is asymmetrically dominated by one of the two applicants can in many circumstances strongly increase the odds that the male applicant will be selected, but will not be beneficial for the female applicant. We test our hypotheses in five experimental studies with different designs, experimental settings, and participant pools—including managers with professional experience in hiring decisions. Our results provide robust evidence demonstrating the strong effects of choice set composition on the emergence of gender bias. In addition, we found that the presence of asymmetrically dominated applicants makes decision makers more confident in their biased decisions and more likely to implement them immediately without searching for further information. Finally, our results also provide some initial evidence that our results for stereotypically male positions will be reversed when hiring decisions are made for stereotypically female positions where the presence of decoys instead gives an advantage to female over male applicants.     

Adolescent gambling and drug use

In this study, 4516 adolescents (aged 11–16 years) completed a questionnaire examining the relationship between underage National Lottery gambling, underage scratchcard gambling, cigarette smoking, drinking alcohol and drug use. It was found that these behaviours were closely linked. Adolescent gamblers reported that they were significantly more likely to drink alcohol (particularly ‘alcopops’), smoke tobacco and take drugs compared to non-gamblers. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Attribute Framing and Goal Framing Effects in Health Decisions

Levin, Schneider, and Gaeth (LSG, 1998) have distinguished among three types of framing—risky choice, attribute, and goal framing—to reconcile conflicting findings in the literature. In the research reported here, we focus on attribute and goal framing. LSG propose that positive frames should be more effective than negative frames in the context of attribute framing, and negative frames should be more effective than positive frames in the context of goal framing. We test this framework by manipulating frame valence (positive vs negative) and frame type (attribute vs goal) in a unified context with common procedures. We also argue that the nature of effects in a goal-framing context may depend on the extent to which the research topic has “intrinsic self-relevance” to the population. In the context of medical decision making, we operationalize low intrinsic self-relevance by using student subjects and high intrinsic self-relevance by using patients. As expected, we find complete support for the LSG framework under low intrinsic self-relevance and modified support for the LSG framework under high intrinsic self-relevance. Overall, our research appears to confirm and extend the LSG framework.     

A comparison of individual and group cognitive-behavioural treatment for female pathological gambling

The current study aimed to determine the differential efficacy of a cognitive-behavioural treatment program for female pathological gamblers delivered in individual and group format. Fifty-six female pathological gamblers with electronic gaming machine gambling problems were randomly assigned to the control (waiting list) group or one of the treatment groups (individual or group treatment). Treatment comprised a 12-session program including financial limit setting, alternative activity planning, cognitive correction, problem solving, communication training, relapse prevention, and imaginal desensitisation. Treatment outcome was evaluated with conceptually related measures within the areas of gambling behaviour and psychological functioning. While individual and group treatment formats generally produced comparable outcomes in terms of gambling behaviour and psychological functioning, group treatment failed to produce superior outcomes to the control group in relation to several measures of psychological functioning. Moreover, by the completion of the six-month follow-up, 92% of the gamblers allocated to individual treatment compared with 60% allocated to group treatment no longer satisfied the diagnostic criteria for pathological gambling. These findings suggest that some caution should be employed when delivering cognitive-behavioural treatment in a group format until further research is conducted to establish its efficacy.     

Anxiety sensitivity and risk-taking behavior

High trait anxiety has been linked with risk-avoidant decision-making, though little is known regarding the specific facets of anxiety contributing to this negative association. Anxiety sensitivity (AS), a transdiagnostic vulnerability factor for anxiety-related pathology, may be particularly relevant to risk decision-making given that risk-taking behaviors generate heightened somatic arousal and produce many of the sensations feared by individuals with high AS. Two studies were conducted to investigate the relation between AS and risk decision-making. In the first study, 268 undergraduate students completed a series of questionnaires that included measures of AS and gambling behaviors. Significant negative correlations were observed between AS and several gambling-related risk-taking activities, and hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that AS scores added significant incremental validity in predicting risk-taking over and above demographic variables, negative affect, and trait anxiety. In the second study, 43 participants who had screened for high (n = 20) or low (n = 23) AS completed the Iowa gambling task, a behavioral measure of risk-taking. Results indicated that, when placed under conditions of risk, individuals with high AS engaged in significantly less risk-taking than their low AS counterparts. The implications of these findings and potential directions for future research are discussed.