An experiment by Central Queensland University (CQU) testing how Australian women gamblers would react when they confronted with pop-up warnings about the dangers of problem gambling had an unintended effect with some players: It made them double down and play even more.
The experiment using pop-up messages at a faux poker machines was performed with 200 volunteers in Adelaide, Queensland. The purpose was to limit losses by prompting players to limit their losses. Some players did the opposite. They gambled even more furiously.
They played until they either ran out of credits or cashed them out.
“Gambled” is probably the wrong word to use since the wins and losses were programmed into the machines. Periodically messages would appear that would notify players that their speed of play had increased and noting that this was similar to the speed exhibited by problem gamblers.
According to Tess Armstrong, a PhD candidate who oversaw the experiment, quoted by ABC News Adelaide, “These messages were determined by a matrix that distinguished between informative, self-monitoring and self-evaluative messages that were either positive, challenging or negative.”
Women reacted to the messages differently from men. Some women increased the rate of betting or increased their betting and lost more. Men slowed their rate of play as a reaction while older people made smaller wagers.
The report said more research was needed before any conclusions could be reached.
