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The licensing effect in gambling choice: a daily diary study.

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Title: The licensing effect in gambling choice: a daily diary study.
Authors: Wu, Raymond (AUTHOR), Clark, Luke (AUTHOR)
Source: Addiction Research & Theory. Dec2025, Vol. 33 Issue 6, p540-549. 10p.
Subjects: Compulsive behavior, Research funding, Logistic regression analysis, Gambling, Self-control, Emotions, Descriptive statistics, Surveys, Desire, Impulsive personality, Odds ratio, Diary (Literary form), Data analysis software, Cognition, Regression analysis
Geographic Terms: North America
Abstract: People with gambling problems gamble despite resolutions to stop. These choices may be more likely in contexts that allow for them to be justified (e.g. after a productive day at work), termed the licensing effect. Using a daily diary design over 21 days (nparticipants = 156, nreports = 2,516), we recruited gamblers trying to reduce their gambling and assessed their daily justification opportunities (e.g. feelings of effort and achievement), gambling involvement (e.g. gambling episodes), and aspects of self-control (i.e. craving, conflict, craving suppression) and affect (positive and negative). We tested the degree to which justification opportunities, self-control, and affect predicted a prospective gambling episode, and the reverse temporal effect. Gambling occurred on 33% of the reported days. Prior-day justification opportunities were associated with higher odds of gambling. Prior-day craving suppression showed a similar effect. Prior-day gambling was associated with stronger cravings, weaker craving suppression, and poorer well-being (lower positive affect, higher negative affect). In our between-person analyses, days gambled and problem gambling severity were positively associated with negative affect; but, in our lagged analysis, prior-day negative affect was associated with lower odds of gambling. Our findings indicate that justification opportunities may precede gambling episodes, and therefore the licensing effect may contribute to why people sometimes gamble despite resolutions to stop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Addiction Research & Theory is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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  Data: People with gambling problems gamble despite resolutions to stop. These choices may be more likely in contexts that allow for them to be justified (e.g. after a productive day at work), termed the licensing effect. Using a daily diary design over 21 days (nparticipants = 156, nreports = 2,516), we recruited gamblers trying to reduce their gambling and assessed their daily justification opportunities (e.g. feelings of effort and achievement), gambling involvement (e.g. gambling episodes), and aspects of self-control (i.e. craving, conflict, craving suppression) and affect (positive and negative). We tested the degree to which justification opportunities, self-control, and affect predicted a prospective gambling episode, and the reverse temporal effect. Gambling occurred on 33% of the reported days. Prior-day justification opportunities were associated with higher odds of gambling. Prior-day craving suppression showed a similar effect. Prior-day gambling was associated with stronger cravings, weaker craving suppression, and poorer well-being (lower positive affect, higher negative affect). In our between-person analyses, days gambled and problem gambling severity were positively associated with negative affect; but, in our lagged analysis, prior-day negative affect was associated with lower odds of gambling. Our findings indicate that justification opportunities may precede gambling episodes, and therefore the licensing effect may contribute to why people sometimes gamble despite resolutions to stop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Addiction Research & Theory is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
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    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1080/16066359.2025.2486964
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 10
        StartPage: 540
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Compulsive behavior
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Research funding
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Logistic regression analysis
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Gambling
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Self-control
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Emotions
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Descriptive statistics
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Surveys
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Desire
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Impulsive personality
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Odds ratio
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Diary (Literary form)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Data analysis software
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Cognition
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Regression analysis
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: North America
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: The licensing effect in gambling choice: a daily diary study.
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            NameFull: Wu, Raymond
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            – D: 01
              M: 12
              Text: Dec2025
              Type: published
              Y: 2025
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              Value: 33
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              Value: 6
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