Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 16, 2026
06:01
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Online Gamers
Published on: November 9, 2019
Injunctive norms and problem gambling among college students
Clayton Neighbors1, Ty W Lostutter, Ursula Whiteside
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Box 354694, Seattle, WA 98105-6099, USA. claytonn@u.washington.edu
Journal of Gambling Studies
|March 31, 2007
Summary
College students overestimate peer approval for gambling, which is linked to less gambling. However, approval from friends and family is associated with more gambling, showing complex social influences.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Behavioral Science
- Addiction Studies
Background:
- Injunctive norms, or perceived social approval/disapproval, influence behavior.
- Understanding these norms is crucial for addressing college student gambling.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the relationship between injunctive norms and college student gambling behavior.
- To assess the accuracy of perceptions regarding peer, friend, and family approval of gambling.
Main Methods:
- Two studies were conducted with college students (N=2524 in Study 1, N=565 in Study 2).
- Evaluated perceptions of others' approval of gambling and its association with gambling behavior.
Main Results:
- Perceived peer approval of gambling was overestimated and negatively correlated with gambling behavior.
- Perceived approval from friends and family positively correlated with gambling behavior.
Conclusions:
- Injunctive norms are complex and depend on the reference group (peers vs. friends/family).
- Caution is advised when using injunctive norms in prevention and intervention for college gambling.
Related Concept Videos
02:05Self-Presentation: Self-Monitoring and Self-Handicapping
People can go to great lengths to protect their self-image and present themselves in ways that they want others to see them. Sociologist Erving Goffman presented the idea that a person is like an actor on a stage. Calling his theory dramaturgy, Goffman believed that we use “impression management” to present ourselves to others as we hope to be perceived. Each situation is a new scene, and individuals perform different roles depending on who is present (Goffman, 1959). Think about the way you...
01:38Cognitive Dissonance
Social psychologists have documented that feeling good about ourselves and maintaining positive self-esteem is a powerful motivator of human behavior (Tavris & Aronson, 2008). In the United States, members of the predominant culture typically think very highly of themselves and view themselves as good people who are above average on many desirable traits (Ehrlinger, Gilovich, & Ross, 2005). Often, our behavior, attitudes, and beliefs are affected when we experience a threat to our...
01:15Drug Abuse and Addiction: Pharmacological Phenomena
Drug dependence, abuse, and addiction are complex phenomena that can precipitate various abnormal states. Physical dependence refers to a state of pharmacological adaptation to a drug. This adaptation often results in tolerance—a reduced response to the drug after repeated administrations. When the drug use is abruptly stopped, withdrawal symptoms occur due to the body's need to readjust from the pharmacologically induced imbalance. However, tolerance and withdrawal symptoms do not necessarily...
01:22Bias
Bias refers to any tendency that prevents a question from being considered unprejudiced. In research, bias occurs when one outcome or answer is selected or encouraged over others in sampling or testing. Bias can occur during any research phase, including study design, data collection, analysis, and publication.
In statistics, a sampling bias is created when a sample is collected from a population, and some members of the population are not as likely to be chosen as others (remember, each member...
In statistics, a sampling bias is created when a sample is collected from a population, and some members of the population are not as likely to be chosen as others (remember, each member...
01:20Conformity
Conformity is the change in a person’s behavior to go along with the group, even if that person does not agree with the group.
02:16Surveys
Often, psychologists develop surveys as a means of gathering data. Surveys are lists of questions to be answered by research participants, and can be delivered as paper-and-pencil questionnaires, administered electronically, or conducted verbally. Generally, the survey itself can be completed in a short time, and the ease of administering a survey makes it easy to collect data from a large number of people.