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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Addictive Behaviors
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1430926

Do Problematic Gamblers and Loot Boxers Share Similar Fallacies of Thought? A Comparative Analysis of Cognitive Biases

Provisionally accepted
Francisco J. Sanmartín Francisco J. Sanmartín 1,2,3Judith Velasco Judith Velasco 1,2,3Mario Gálvez-Lara Mario Gálvez-Lara 1,2,3Fatima Cuadrado Fatima Cuadrado 1,2,3Juan A. Moriana Juan A. Moriana 1,2,3*
  • 1 Department of Psychology, University of Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain
  • 2 Maimonides Biomedical Research Institute of Cordoba (IMIBIC), Cordova, Spain
  • 3 Reina Sofia University Hospital, Cordoba, Spain

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Cognitive biases are associated with the beginning and maintenance of addictive behaviours. While these biases have been studied in gambling, they have yet to be thoroughly investigated in the context of loot boxes (LBs), largely because of the relatively recent emergence of this phenomenon. This study compared cognitive biases in problematic gamblers, non-problematic gamblers, LB purchasers, and free-LB openers. For this aim, 279 participants (63.1% males) with a mean age of 23.65 years (SD = 8.66) completed a self-report. The results showed no differences between problematic gamblers, LB purchasers and LB openers on illusion of control and predictive control. In contrast to LB openers, problematic gamblers and LB purchasers obtained statistically similar scores on interpretative biases, gambling-related expectancies and the total score of the Gambling Related Cognitions Scale (GRCS). Only problematic gamblers experienced a higher perceived inability to stop gambling. Moreover, problematic gamblers, LB purchasers and LB openers scored higher on all biases compared to non-problematic gamblers. Eighty-six participants simultaneously gambled and used LBs. When this overlap was controlled, problematic gamblers and loot boxers shared all cognitive biases but the perceived inability to stop gambling; and scored statistically higher than non-problematic gamblers in all cognitive biases except for the illusion of control. The study provides additional evidence of the relationship between gambling and LBs.

    Keywords: Loot boxes, Gambling, Video Games, Gambling-related cognitions, cognitive bias, Behavioural addictions

    Received: 10 May 2024; Accepted: 13 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Sanmartín, Velasco, Gálvez-Lara, Cuadrado and Moriana. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Juan A. Moriana, Department of Psychology, University of Córdoba, Córdoba, 14071, Spain

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.