Trait and state emotion congruence in simulated casinos: Effects on at-risk gambling intention and restoration

This research examined the effects of casino design and congruence in trait and state emotion on at-risk gambling intentions and psychological restoration. Video simulations representing two casino designs (playground vs. gaming) were presented to 484 participants (241 males) varying in gambling sub-type. The playground design features a recognizable theme, elements of nature, and spaciousness; the gaming design focuses on the gambling machines in a maze-like setting with low ceilings. For low trait arousal participants, at-risk intentions were higher when environmental arousal (EA) was high (mismatch) than when low (match). For high trait arousal participants, at-risk intentions were higher when EA was high (match) than when low (mismatch). A similar pattern of results occurred for restoration but only for pleasure trait-state congruency in non-problem gamblers. For problem gamblers, the effects of trait-state congruence on restoration were restricted to those with low trait pleasure for the playground design. The effects of congruence in trait and state emotion are bounded by the positivity of the outcome (at-risk gambling intention vs. restoration), the design of the casino (playground vs. gaming), the dimension of emotion (arousal vs. pleasure), the pole of the emotion (low vs. high), and gambler subtype (problem vs. non-problem).