When Money Finally Matters: The Dynamics and Meaning-Making of Self-Control among Individuals with a Tendency toward Online Gambling Addiction

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Published: Aug 29, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.28932/humanitas.v10i2.16655
Keywords:
meaning of money, online gambling, self-control adiksi judi online, kontrol diri, makna uang

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Agus Mahendra Saputra
Fakultas Psikologi, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Anissa Putri
Fakultas Psikologi, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Nabila Dini Zhafira
Fakultas Psikologi, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Abstract

Self-control is often identified as a key factor in online gambling, yet how gamblers themselves make sense of it amid their addiction remains rarely explored, particularly in Indonesia. This qualitative study used descriptive phenomenology to explore the dynamics and meaning of self-control in three adult men (aged 24-27 years) with an online gambling addiction tendency. The participants selected through purposive criterion sampling and interviewed in depth online. Data were analyzed using Giorgi’s descriptive phenomenological method via the Descriptive Phenomenological Analysis (DPA) procedure. Five themes emerged: the decision to quit, driving dimensions, inhibiting dimensions, the meaning of money, and hope. The decision to quit was built on internalized negative experiences, stigma, relationship commitment, and shame over borrowing money. Driving dimensions included spiritual momentum, a sense of adult responsibility, and social support. The inhibiting dimensions ranged from the pursuit of quick gains, peer conformity, easy access to loans, and the pull of the online gambling system itself. The meaning of money stood out as the essential theme: once participants began valuing money earned through their own labor, they grew reluctant to gamble it away. This shift reduced gambling frequency and sustained hope for a gambling-free life. These findings point to interventions built around financial reflection, involving significant others, and limiting exposure to gambling.

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How to Cite
Saputra, A. M., Putri, A. ., & Zhafira, N. D. . (2026). When Money Finally Matters: The Dynamics and Meaning-Making of Self-Control among Individuals with a Tendency toward Online Gambling Addiction. Humanitas (Jurnal Psikologi), 10(2), 271–294. https://doi.org/10.28932/humanitas.v10i2.16655
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Vol. 10 No. 2 (2026)
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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