How do men and women differ in how they gamble online? Evidence from international gamblers

What is it about?

Gambling has historically been characterised as a predominantly male activity, but prevalence surveys at the time of this study were showing increasing numbers of women gambling, including online. The existing research suggested that online gamblers were more likely to be male and that problem gamblers were more likely to be male, but relatively little was known about how female online gamblers actually behaved, what they gambled on, why they gambled, and how their patterns of play compared with those of male gamblers. This survey recruited 975 online gamblers, including 175 women, via 32 international online gambling websites. Participants reported their frequency of online gambling, types of games played, reasons for gambling, attitudes to online gambling, and levels of problem gambling. The study compared men and women across all these dimensions to develop a clearer empirical profile of female online gamblers and identify where gender differences were most pronounced.

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Why is it important?

Most problem gambling research and treatment has been developed with a predominantly male population in mind, reflecting long-standing assumptions about who gamblers are. As online gambling has expanded access dramatically, reducing barriers that may previously have kept women away from gambling venues, the demographics of gambling have shifted in ways the evidence base had not kept pace with. An empirical study comparing male and female online gamblers across motivation, game type, frequency and problem severity provides the foundation for developing gender-sensitive gambling harm reduction strategies, treatment approaches and regulatory responses. Identifying whether women are more or less likely to develop problems online, and whether their pathways into problematic gambling differ from men's, is essential for designing interventions that actually reach and work for them.