Psychological appraisal of gambling behaviour on campus

Abstract

Gambling has become an alarmingly increasing activity that youths and adolescents engage in following the ease of accessibility and availability of the internet. This study therefore aims at examining the psychosocial factors responsible for gambling behaviour among selected undergraduate students on campus. To achieve this, a descriptive survey research design and a convenience sampling technique were adopted and data were collected from 312 participants using a battery of psychological tests consisting of Attitudes Towards Gambling Scale (ATGS-8), Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI), Personal Optimism and Social Optimism Extended Scale (POSO-E). The data collected were analysed with simple percentage, Pearson correlation analysis and Independent t-test. The findings revealed a significant relationship between optimism and gambling whereas there was no significant relationship personal wellbeing and gambling. It was also revealed that gamblers made more use of online gambling platform compared to physical/offline platforms. Also there was no significant difference between males’ and females’ disposition to gambling. The study recommended that Governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) should create more public awareness on the growing prevalence and consequences of gambling behaviour among youths.

Key words: Gambling, Personal Wellbeing, Optimism, Attitude, Youths