Gambling attitudes among black South African university students.

Abstract

Political change in South Africa since 1994 has led to a marked increase in opportunities to gamble. The purpose of the study was, therefore, to investigate attitudes towards gambling in African University students with the Gambling Attitude Scales by sex, course of study, and personality traits such as conservatism and risk-taking. The sample included 136 University of the North students, 80 first-year psychology and 56 second-year African law students. The students were 69 men and 65 women in the age range of 18 to 32 years (M of 21.8 yr., SD = 3.9). Analysis showed that men held more positive attitudes than women did towards gambling. Positive attitudes toward gambling were related to individual differences in risk-taking, liberalism, and course of study.