Why Women Gamble Term Paper

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male and female gamblers. For example, unlike their male counterparts, more women gravitate to less competitive games where there is a larger element of luck such as bingo, casino slots or video poker machines. Gambling problems have long been explored by psychologists as impulse control disorders characterized by an inability to resist impulses to gamble. Yet, gender differences among gambling preferences indicate that areas other than psychology such as a sociological point-of-view would prove helpful in explaining the gambling habits of women. This paper explores these social issues and describes implications for the need to incorporate social factors in the treatment of female gambling addicts. The findings indicate that women warrant both psychological and social considerations in their recovery process.

Studies have shown that the majority of escape gamblers, seventy percent, are women. In contract, only ten percent of action gamblers are women. An escape gambler is primarily trying to avoid thoughts, feelings, pain, addiction, and trauma. In other words, they are seeking a safe haven from their real-world problems. The action gambler is seeking the thrill of competition and an adrenaline rush.

Several social factors may explain the escapist gaming habits of women according to research on female pathological gamblers.

Women have a tendency to be overwhelmed by problems. For them, gambling serves to function as a safe haven to alleviate anxiety by the mental absorption required by some gambling games and provide the autonomy they are denied in their lives. Common reasons for gambling problems in women that are related to escapism include:

Minimizing feelings of loneliness Escaping mentally and emotionally from past or current traumas and unresolved grief

Escaping physically from chronic pain or other health conditions

Avoiding conflict or abuse at home

Relieving stress or tension in other areas of her life

The male problem gambler usually has an outgoing, talkative, and gregarious personality.

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He often seems self-assured and in control. In sharp contrast, the female problem gambler is more often withdrawn, socially isolated, and suffering from extreme feelings of guilt, shame, and low self-worth. As a devastating consequence, women progress through the gambling continuum more rapidly than men. A man may gamble for years or decades before experiencing negative consequences directly related to gambling. But, a woman may have gambled for only a short time, perhaps just a few months and yet have already reached the desperation stage.

Further, studies have revealed that the characteristics of women gamblers are different because of their role in society. Researchers believe that women are not action gamblers because of cultural and historical factors. Culturally, women are socialized to believe that the pursuit of gratuitous action is inappropriate to their gender. And, women have historically undertaken mundane occupational and family roles. Therefore, less fateful experiences than gambling may suffice to break the monotony of everyday life.

As previously stated, women typically play different games than men, ones that are played alone and require little skill or knowledge such as bingo, slot machines, lotteries, scratch tickets, pull-tabs, and raffles.

Existing research reveals that the diverse concrete settings of gambling games and the social functions which they fulfill, provide a….....

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