Why Is It So Difficult to Get Information On Slot Machine Gamblers?

When it comes to slot machines, it might be hard to win money, but it is even harder to get any information on playing habits from slot machine gamblers themselves. Several factors are responsible for this difficulty and Mark Griffiths (- a psychologist from at Nottingham Trent University) and Jonathon Parke (-a psychologist from Salford University) discuss the issue in there paper ‘Slot Machine Gamblers: Why Are They So Hard to Study?’

The paper was first published in the Electronic Journal of Gambling Issues several years ago: "We have both spent over 10 years playing in and researching this area," they state, "and we can offer some explanations on why it is so hard to gather reliable and valid data."

Among the many reasons they discovered for the reluctance of slot machine gamblers are the following:

Gamblers are easily absorbed into the act of gambling, to the detriment of life’s necessities- "We have observed that many gamblers will often miss meals and even utilise devices (such as catheters) so that they do not have to take toilet breaks. Given these observations, there is sometimes little chance that we as researchers can persuade them to participate in research studies." The catheter seems a bit farfetched, but this paper was written by real-life academics, they do not fib to make their papers more interesting do they?

Additionally, gamblers are private creatures who "may be dishonest about the extent of their gambling activities to researchers as well as to those close to them. This obviously has implications for the reliability and validity of any data collected."

Finally, trained in the art of stealth, the problem gambler will probably notice when they are being spied on, ‘it takes one to know one after all’, Griffith and Parkes claim that "The most important aspect of non-participant observation research while monitoring fruit-machine players is the art of being inconspicuous. If the researcher fails to blend in, then slot-machine gamblers soon realise they are being watched and are therefore highly likely to change their behaviour."

The authors of the paper, Griffiths and Parke are well known in their field of study, with a researcher from the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction saying: "In the problem gambling field we don't exhibit the same adulation as music fans for their idols, but we have our superstars and, for me, Mark Griffiths is one."

Mark Griffiths happens to be a leading psychologist on the international stage in his chosen area of study, the psychology of slot machines. He has written many papers on fruit machines including: ‘Fruit Machine Gambling and Criminal Behaviour: Issues for the Judiciary’ (1998) and ‘Beating the Fruit Machine: Systems and Ploys Both Legal and Illegal (1994)’.

He also places a particular focus on women, in ‘Machine Addiction in Females: a Case Study’ and young people, in Adolescent Gambling on Fruit Machines.

If you are interested in gambling addiction, especially regarding slot machines, then Mark Griffiths is definitely worth a Google.

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