Materialism, Financial Motives and Gambling: Examination of an Unexplored Relationship

Gambling has an inherent structural monetary component, and financial motive is one of the main motivations for gambling. Despite this, and contrary to other addictive behaviours that involve money such as compulsive buying, gambling has never been studied from a materialism perspective. The objective of the present study was to explore the links between materialism and gambling disorder (GD) and whether this relationship is mediated by financial motives for gambling. We compared 65 pathological gamblers (PGs) seeking treatment to 65 matched non-problem gamblers. The data collection included socio-demographics, gambling characteristics, the Materialism Values Scale, the Gambling Motives Questionnaire-Financial, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. The statistical analysis included linear mixed models and Structural Equation Modelling. The level of materialism was significantly higher for the PGs, except for the Centrality dimension. Only one mediated effect was significant, and it concerned an indirect path from Happiness through financial motives. Moreover, Happiness explained most of the variance of the probability of becoming a PG. Contrary to compulsive buying, the PGs seemed to display materialism in a more experiential way that was centred on what possessions can induce secondarily rather than on the possessions themselves. The belief that material possessions are essential to achieving happiness may encourage the PG to gamble, thus contributing to both the development and maintenance of GD. We provided evidence that materialism is a key concept in the comprehension of GD and should be further considered when adapting care strategies.