Lottery and gambling, why are we attracted to them?

The fact that we are attracted to play the lottery can be explained from a double perspective: anthropological and psychological.

If we want to understand the behavior of playing the lottery from a psychological point of view, Kevin Bennett’s research (Psychology Today, 2016) can help us understand it, as he clearly explains what are the 6 cognitive biases that make us keep playing:

1. Unrealistic optimism regarding the odds that we will or will not hit a lottery number. The numbers are so disproportionate that our brain is unable to comprehend it.
2. Marketing and advertising talks, especially during the Christmas season, about those who have won, about their happiness and how they have fulfilled a dream that helps their family economy (pay the mortgage, take a trip, help the family). We identify with the winners, who are people like us: “if they have won, why not me?
   It is worth highlighting the advertising campaign of the Christmas Lottery, which in recent years has been making television commercials telling stories with which we can easily identify and which appeal to solidarity, sharing, family, love and happiness; in short, to the magic of life.
3. The gambler’s fallacy, or that in the randomness of past events, getting it right or not, does not influence the future probabilities of whether or not it will be our turn or not, since the probabilities remain the same.
4. The illusion of control, or thinking that if one chooses the number oneself one will have a better chance of winning. This is where the superstition of the favorite and/or magic numbers or the opposite, jinx numbers, comes in. And the “near miss”, by which if we have a number close to the winning number we tend to believe that next time we will have more chances of winning.
5. Social trap according to which, if we have been playing and betting on the same number for a long time, we will not stop playing now or change the number, for fear that just then we will win.
6. This is an easy investment to justify, since thinking that we can change our future with a very low investment, the cost of a lottery number is reason enough to play.

The culture of superstition up to the present day

The anthropological explanation of the lottery is based on the fact that human beings play basically for two reasons: to have fun and to demonstrate their superiority over chance. It is here when the desire to influence the course of events through superstition comes into play as a way of exercising this control.

The human being has been superstitious since the most ancient civilizations, since through superstition people wanted to control supernatural forces and find answers to those questions that reason and logic could not explain. Superstition thus becomes an alternative way of thinking, magical thinking, thanks to which we manage to order and control certain aspects of life.

Although it is true that we normally associate superstition with cultures that are more deeply rooted in religion and tradition, it is clear that superstitious ideas and behaviors coexist in today’s technological and scientific era. And this is because, although human intelligence and curiosity have allowed the development of scientific thought, there are still situations that are beyond our control and even beyond our understanding.

Fernando Savater reflects that, although our society is very technical, “we do not know why the sophisticated instruments we handle work, we do it as savages would do it and that does not provide true knowledge. We still don’t know, that’s why we believe; in the amulet and the smartphone alike, we have no idea how either works.” That which we do not control causes us insecurity so we need to keep believing that, in one way or another, we are able to protect ourselves and face our fears, just as we are able to attract fortune. The proliferation of astrologers and psychics, as well as the use of amulets corroborates this: “We are still the clever monkey afraid of what cannot be explained” (Manuel Toharia).

Each culture has its own superstitions that are transmitted from generation to generation. Curiously, although we do not consider ourselves superstitious, we can observe that we perform acts, on a daily basis, based on superstition without really knowing why, but “just in case” to ward off bad luck: crossing our fingers, touching wood, not spilling salt, not opening an umbrella at home, not going under a ladder, avoiding the number 13, getting up with the right foot, not breaking a mirror, etc.

Superstitions to choose a lottery number

Superstition in the Christmas lottery is especially reflected when it comes to choosing the number: the player wants to create a special connection with the number so he chooses an important date, the license plate of a car, a date of birth, etc.; he chooses the number he sees more beautiful or more rare, and if the lotter offers him a number he resists not to take it.

There are people who wish that the lottery ticket seller gives them the number face down and with the right hand; others acquire the number in an administration that has distributed many prizes; and/or use amulets: he wears a gold coin, a pin in his jacket during the key days, he keeps an iron and antique key in his bag to attract good luck during the moment of the draw, he believes in the luck that can bring him a branch of parsley, a yellow candle, coins, a color… just look at the amount of amulets that accompany those attending the draw.

Why do we buy so much Christmas lottery?

Most of the people who buy the lottery do it for illusion and tradition. Since the first draw, on December 18, 1812 in Cadiz, this Christmas tradition has been woven. This lottery is associated with Christmas and has become a custom of this period, like eating nougat and polvorones, the company lunch or dinner, Christmas decorations and gifts.

It is true that a large number of people play out of commitment; it is difficult to say “no” to the tenth of a lottery ticket at work, to the number shared with the family, to the share offered at the bar and/or the neighborhood store. There is here a factor of “preventive envy” for which we play, lest we play and then regret it, as well as playing as a form of socialization: of belonging and social comparison since “everybody does it”.

We must not forget that many people consider the lottery as an amusement rather than an investment, which allows them to fantasize about winning the prize and even see it as an opportunity to compensate for the tension generated by social inequalities.

I would also highlight two important elements that come into play in the Christmas lottery: sharing and solidarity. It is very typical in our country to share tickets with friends and family, as well as to buy tickets in stores and associations in order to help them raise funds for projects. In this way, at the same time that we appeal to fortune, we share the illusion and help those in need.

Psychological profiles of lottery players

Lottery buyers belong to different cultural levels, since people with more economic difficulties can see in this draw a stroke of luck that frees them from the economic pressure they suffer; the lottery undoes social differences: both rich and poor buy hope and play on a neutral ground where everyone has the same chances of winning.

Different psychological profiles of gamblers can be identified in chance:

• The explorer, who is attracted to games that involve winning large amounts of money, betting on random numbers and combinations of numbers.
• The competitive, who wants to prove through gambling that he only plays to win.
• The adventurer, who has no limits to play and is not afraid to gamble.
• The strategist, for whom chance and playing randomly does not enter into his plans, so he may try to look for strategies and number combinations when betting on a number.
• The friend, who uses the lottery ticket as a way to share with other friends and family.
• The superstitious, who will play the same numbers, use lucky charms, buy the lottery ticket on a particular day, etc.