Gambling as a form of risk-taking: Individual differences in personality, risk-accepting attitudes, and behavioral preferences for risk

Substantial evidence suggests that various forms of risk-taking co-occur within individuals. We examined whether indicators of risk-propensity, including self-reported personality traits, laboratory-based behavioral measures of risk, and self-reported attitudes toward risk in various domains were associated with general gambling involvement and problem gambling behavior in a sample of university students, using an extreme-groups design. Personality traits and attitudes toward risk were correlated with both problem gambling and general gambling involvement. Behavioral measures were positively correlated with general gambling involvement. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that both problem gambling and general gambling involvement loaded on single factors with other measures of risk, suggesting that gambling represents one expression of a general propensity for risk-taking. Future study of the causes of gambling behavior may benefit from integration within a more general framework of risk-taking.