This document summarizes a study on gender differences in poker gambling behaviors among undergraduate students. The study found that gender exerts an effect on poker behaviors that is mediated by the locations where students gamble on poker. Specifically, males were more likely than females to gamble on poker in public locations and on the internet, and gambling in these locations was associated with higher problem gambling severity, spending on poker, and poker debt. Therefore, gender differences in poker behaviors can be explained by the locations where males and females typically gamble on poker. The study concludes that gambling behaviors need to be understood in the contexts of specific settings rather than just individual factors.
GENDER, GAMBLING SETTINGS, AND GAMBLING BEHAVIORS AMONG UNDERGRADUTE POKER PLAYERS
1. GENDER, GAMBLING SETTINGS, AND GAMBLING
BEHAVIORS AMONG UNDERGRADUTE POKER
PLAYERS
Eva Monson, PhD
Research Chair on Gambling
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Concordia University
_________________________
International Gambling Conference 2016
Auckland, New Zealand
February 12th, 2016
2. UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
Gambling problems are up to three times higher than
in the general adult population
3.7% MR & PG in a Canadian-wide campus
survey1 compared to 2.0% among adults2
Gambling as a leisure or glamourous activity
1. Kairouz, 2005
2. Cox et al., 2005
3. UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
Students gamble in a variety of settings1
Settings have influence on gambling outcomes
across different gambling occasions1
e.g., time and money spent
It may be by looking for where the action is2, and by
catching the specificities of gambling places3 that one
can further understand gambling behaviors.
1. Kairouz, Paradis, & Monson, 2015
2. Goffman, 1961
3. Lyons, 2002
4. GENDER
Prevalence and frequency of gambling, and related
problems are higher among male college students 1
Similar to general population studies2
Research has focused on individual factors
contributing to gender differences in gambling
but social behaviors are influenced by context
1. Ellenbogen, Jacobs, Derevensky, Gupta, & Paskus, 2008; Martin et al., 2010 Adams, Sullivan, Horton, Menna, & Guilmette, 2007
2. Kairouz, Paradis, Nadeau, Hamel, & Robillard 2015
5. POKER
Theoretically, poker is gender neutral
In practice, historically dominated by men
In recent years, an increasing number of women online
Perhaps due to anonymity of internet
WSOP Main Event: 4% women1; online: 26.2%2
Settings may be an important component of the gender
differences observed in poker behaviours
1. WSOP, 2015
2. Parke et al., 2007
6. It is through the settings
in which college male and female gamblers play
poker that gender is related to poker behaviors.
Gender
Poker
settings
Poker
behaviors
RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
7. THE UNIVERSITY STUDENT GAMBLING HABIT
SURVEY/ ENHJEU PROJECT 2008
Representative sample of 2,139 full-time
undergraduate students
Those who reported having bet money on poker
during the last 12 months (n = 368) were retained
242 men, 126 women
3 Montreal universities and 2 affiliated schools
Response rate: 41%
8. Dependent variable
Overall PGSI score
Past year poker spending
Past year gambling debt
Mediators - Location
Internet
Public location
Private residence
Independent variables
Gender: male as
reference category
Control variables
Year of study
Disposable income
University
MEASURES
9. Gender
PGSI Index
0 to 27
Money spent on poker - last 12 months
0 to 1,000$
Accumulated poker debt - last 12 months
0 to 8,000$
Prevalence of gambling on poker by location
Public location, private residence, online
MEASURES
11. RESULTS
Summary of mediation results controlling for year of
study and disposable money (5000 bootstrap samples)
Total
effect
(c)
Effect of
IV on M
(a)
Effect of
M on DV
(b)
Total
Indirect
effect
Direct
effect
(c’)
Specific
Indirect
effects
(ab)
B coeff. B coeff. B coeff. Point
est.
B coeff. Point
est.
PGSI Private
Public + + +
Internet + + +
+ + +
Poker
Spending
Private
Public + + +
Internet + + +
+ +
12. RESULTS
Gender exerts an effect on poker behaviors.
This effect is mediated through the
prevalence of gambling on poker that occurs
in different locations.
It is not gender in itself that structures poker behaviors
but rather
the locations where students gamble on poker,
given their gender.
13. CONCLUSION
Gambling needs to be understood from a
perspective focusing as much on contexts as
individuals
Highlights the need to tailor prevention not
only to specific groups such as college
students but also to account for the risk
embedded in specific settings.
14. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ENHJEU participants
Fonds de recherche sur la société et la culture (FRQ-SC)
Fonds de la recherche en santé
Centre de réadaptation en dépendance de Montréal -
Institut universitaire
Sylvia Kairouz, Philippe Laperle, and Nicole Arsenault
15. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
MERCI POUR VOTRE ATTENTION