Effect of gambling odds framing on younger and older adults’ comprehension and perceived chances of winning

How the odds of winning a casino game are presented impacts whether individuals understand and how they perceive those odds. When framed in terms of what the player will win (return to player), younger and middle-aged adults have lower comprehension and higher perceived chances of winning than when the same odds are framed in terms of what the casino will keep (house edge), suggesting a classic framing effect. In the current study, we tested whether older (mean age = 69.01, SD = 3.02) and younger adults (mean age = 23.50, SD = 3.02) differ in their susceptibility to this framing effect and how measures of positivity, risk propensity, and financial exploitation vulnerability impact understanding and perceptions. Across both age groups, comprehension was lower and perceived chances of winning were higher in the return-to-player condition. Age alone did not predict comprehension, but older adults were less optimistic about coming out ahead, were less risk seeking, and self-reported lower financial exploitation vulnerability than younger adults. Exploratory mediation analyses revealed that lower financial exploitation vulnerability partially explained older adults’ reduced belief that they would win, particularly in the return-to-player frame. Together, these findings suggest that age differences in gambling perceptions reflect trait-level differences in financial vigilance and affective outlook rather than chronological age alone .