In gambling, there's a downside to being upbeat: study
23 Apr 2008
AUSTRALIA -- As reported by the CBC: "Positive thinking has its pitfalls, particularly when it comes to gamblers who just can't resist playing another round, according to a new Australian study.
"Researcher Elizabeth Cowley, a marketing professor at the University of Sydney, says positive thinkers tend to focus more on their wins rather than their losses and accordingly take more risks and spend more than they had budgeted.
"In a series of experiments, gamblers were recruited to play 300 gambling games.
"...When participants whose big win and big loss were spaced far apart, they remembered the experience as being positive, even though they lost money, researchers found..."