Dr. Mark Griffiths, an English chartered psychologist and distinguished professor of behavioral addiction at the Nottingham Trent University and director of the International Gaming Research Unit, published a 2019 paper with Dr. Michael Auer, in which they examined the concept of "fishing addiction" and the similarities with gambling addiction.
Among the many references Dr. Griffiths cited was a 2013 online article (http://ongambling.org/fishing-and-gambling) by Dr. Per Binde, who describes himself as a gambling researcher who enjoys fishing in his spare time. In his words, "Gambling and fishing have many similarities, especially if you consider bait casting (spinning) in relation to repetitive forms of gambling, such as slot machines."
Another 2013 online article by Whitney James also made a similar observation that "pulling a penny slot is like casting your line. It doesn't take a lot of effort, but the payout is sometimes sweet." The same is true of a hobby like metal detecting. As my friend, Skip, noted, "The next swipe could reveal some kind of treasure, whether it be a ring, coin or pop top."
Both Binde and James noted a number of distinct similarities, as outlined below:
* In both activities, the participant repeats the same behavior over and over again in the hope that they will attain something of material value.
* Both activities lead to mood modifying experiences and can be both relaxing and exciting.
* Both activities can result in the person forgetting about time and engaging in the activity for much longer than the person originally intended (because of the escape-like qualities of engaging in the activity).
* Both activities involve "near misses" that reinforce the behavior, or as Dr. Binde says, "one reel symbol slightly out of place for a jackpot; bites and nibbles of fish that do not get hooked."
* Success in either activity may be a combination of skill and chance, and winning or catching a fish gives the individuals concerned a sense of achievement and mastery. Furthermore, the person engaging in these activities may not be able to differentiate between what was skill and what was chance, or as Dr. Binde says, "Was my choice of bait successful, or was it just luck that I caught a big fish?"
* In both activities, the "availability bias" comes into play. More specifically, the few big successes (i.e., catching a really big fish or winning a large amount of money) are highly memorable, while all the many other occasions when the person lost all their money or caught nothing are easily forgotten.
* In both activities, superstitious rituals are commonplace (wearing a "lucky" cap, spitting on the lure, etc.). As Dr. Griffiths noted in a 2005 paper he co-wrote with Carolyn Bingham in the Journal of Gambling Issues, there are certain groups within society who tend to hold more superstitious beliefs than what may be considered the norm, including sportsmen, actors, miners, fishermen, and gamblers.
* In both activities, when things are not going right (i.e., not winning, not catching any fish), the person then tries the same thing somewhere else (a gambler changes tables or slot machines, or goes to a new gaming venue; a fisherman changes his bait or tries another place in the river or a new river entirely).
* In both activities, one win or one fish caught is never enough.
* Both activities are potentially addictive ("ask either addict's wife, and they will confirm," said Whitney James).
Another similarity is that both activities can prove to be an expensive pastime. While this could be said, comparing any two leisure activities, in a 2004 qualitative interview study of seven male high-frequency betting-shop gamblers published in the journal Addiction Research and Theory, Dr. Tom Ricketts and Ann McCaskill, the gamblers justified the amount spent on gambling by contrasting the amount they spent on other leisure pursuits like fishing. As one gambler said, "Like some people go fishing...and that costs a lot more than what it does with gambling. So that's the way I see it, really, you pay for your hobbies."
Dr. Griffiths summarized his and Dr. Auer's paper this way: "In a nutshell, our paper attempted to examine whether, in extreme cases, fishing could be characterized as an addiction. It also attempted to argue that there are many commonalities between excessive fishing and another behavioral addiction (i.e., gambling addiction). It does appear to have addiction-like properties, and some fishermen even describe their fixation on fishing as an addiction akin to problematic drug use and/or gambling.
"However, our paper didn't argue that fishing addiction exists, just that some people (including fishermen themselves) conceptualize their excessive behavior as an addiction, and further, that a few scholars have asserted that, in extreme cases, fishing may be a behavior that can be potentially addictive."
To read the entire document (titled Totally hooked: Angling, gambling, and "fishing addiction") for yourselves, simply click on this link: https://drmarkgriffiths.wordpress.com/2019/03/15/totally-hooked-angling-gambling-and-fishing-addiction/.
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