Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 28, 2026

Integrating Computerized Linguistic and Social Network Analyses to Capture Addiction Recovery Capital in an Online Community
Published on: May 31, 2019
Exploring online problem gamblers' motivation to change
Ayna B Johansen1, Pål Fylling Helland2, Dag K Wennesland1
1Norwegian Centre for Addiction Research, University of Oslo, Norway.
Background:
In order to improve interventions for problem gambling, there is a need for studies that can highlight psychological factors that support the desire to reduce gambling.
Objective:
To explore online problem gamblers' motivation for change by studying participants' reactions to an online treatment referral website designed to motivate at-risk gamblers to seek help.
Design:
A qualitative evaluation study, combining focus groups and in-depth interviews. Data were analyzed using the general inductive approach.
Informants:
The informants included 19 male, treatment- and non-treatment seeking, online gamblers who played a variety of games, including poker, sports betting and online casino.
Results:
Motivation to change emerged as two processes including (a) empathy with others, which included projection of their thoughts and feelings onto others, and (b) dissonance between gambling behavior and ideal self-image. Dissonance included two subthemes: (i) dissonance due to positive feelings towards sports and athletics, and (ii) dissonance due to gambling among family.
Conclusions:
The findings have implications for interventions designed to evoke motivation early in treatment of online problem gambling. Inducing problem gamblers to reflect on the thoughts and feelings of concerned significant others, real or fictional, could be a viable strategy to motivate online problem gamblers to consider change.
Related Concept Videos
Self-Discrepancy Theory
Self-Presentation: Self-Monitoring and Self-Handicapping
Avoidance Learning and Learned Helplessness
Avoidance learning occurs when an organism learns that a specific behavior can prevent an unpleasant outcome. For example, a student who receives a bad grade may start studying harder to avoid future poor grades. This behavior persists even when the negative outcome is no longer present. Avoidance learning is powerful because it maintains behavior in the absence of the...
Coping Strategies: Problem Focused
For example, consider a student who struggles to understand their...
Stress Prevention and Stress Management Techniques VI
Motivation and Self-Determination
Motivation, the driving force behind behavior, plays a pivotal role at every stage of the change process. The research...
Motivational Bias

