Project description
Understanding emotional dysregulation in gambling addiction
Emotional signals play an important role in decision-making, including in activities like gambling. The accurate perception and assessment of these emotional states, such as arousal, are crucial for evaluating risks and making informed choices. However, in individuals with a gambling addiction, these processes can become distorted, contributing to persistent and problematic behaviours. Effectively distinguishing between individuals with and without gambling issues based solely on emotional cues remains a challenge. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) programme, the GamblingEmotion project aims to shed light on how arousal influences disordered gambling. Specifically, it will conduct psychophysiological assessments and behavioural investigations to uncover the relationships between emotional arousal and risk perception in the context of gambling.
Objective
Psychological theories of emotion and cognition agree that emotional experiences play an important role in decision making and risk evaluation. For emotions to influence decision-making, individuals need to perceive these emotional signals (i.e. interoception), and appraise them appropriately (e.g. attribute as an internal state). These processing stages have been found to be abnormal in some forms of mental illness. In gambling behaviour, it is assumed that abnormal levels of arousal are a source of reinforcement and can lead to problematic gambling participation. Yet, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear, and emotional signals alone (e.g. heart rate changes) do not reliably differentiate people with and without gambling problems. The current project will clarify the role of arousal in disordered gambling to close this knowledge gap by using a novel approach to separate the contributions of arousal perception, and the influence of risk and ambiguity on arousal and the appraisal of arousal. Work package (WP) 1 will record psychophysiological measures of arousal in people who gamble, and assess their relationships with the subjective perception of arousal. WP 2 will examine the influence of risk and ambiguity on the ability of arousal to predict decision making. WP 3, will investigate whether unrelated (‘incidental’) arousal is attributed to the gambling episode and influences decision making in gambling behaviour. Combining computational modeling and psychophysiological measurements is a new experimental approach which will give additional insights in identifying which of these emotional dimensions are perturbed in gambling. The proposed research will have implications for gambling policy, and targeting emotional components in prevention and treatment of gambling addiction.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-GF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01
See all projects funded under this callCoordinator
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
50931 KOLN
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.