Why Do You Buy a Lottery Ticket?

Why do you buy a lottery ticket? Is it to win a big prize like tonight’s $700 million Powerball jackpot? That may well be the dream but research has shown that for some players, lottery ticket purchases are made to boost their mood.

The research was carried out by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It found that going out and buying a lottery ticket can lead to the purchaser being happier in the hours that follow.

Tests

Their findings come after the researchers carried out a series of tests. One of these tests involved participants being given a £5 scratch card. There was a £2 million jackpot that could have been won. The recipients were given five days to check if they had won anything. Another test saw a group told to come back and claim a total of £5 which would be paid in cash.

The latter group all went ahead and claimed their £5. However, only 42 per cent of the other group returned. This could explain why there are so many unclaimed lottery prizes. The researchers say that in the past year in the UK, there has been over £100 million in unclaimed lottery wins.

Further research showed that players who were feeling down were more likely to go and buy a lottery ticket. This led to the conclusion that people buy tickets “not only money, but improved mood.”

One of the researchers was Dr Shu Li. Writing in the journal Cognition and Emotion, the doctor commented: “What lottery players want is not the tangible money that can make their dreams come true but rather a good mood accompanied by daydreaming.”

Daydream

Dr Shu Li added: “If what people want is a good mood and a daydream, the fact that many lottery winnings go unclaimed begins to become understandable.”

There are plenty of reasons to be dreaming of a big lottery win at present. Not just the massive Powerball jackpot tonight but tomorrow’s SuperEnalotto draw which has a 295.4 million euros jackpot.

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