|
Enjoying Your Work Richard Brislin |
Trips to Las Vegas satisfy
more than locals’ urge
to gambleIn last Monday's column, I discussed people who are willing to take risks in their lives. Some people enjoy feeling uncertain about what will happen in the future. These people are willing to risk various resources in the hope of achieving positive outcomes for themselves. Given their willingness to take risks, different people find different outlets. Some become entrepreneurs and so have no guarantee of a monthly paycheck. Some engage in high-risk sports. Others take up gambling as an avocation.
There are many people in Hawaii who pursue their willingness to risk money by traveling to Las Vegas. Year after year, legislators and city planners ask, "Is there a way to keep this money in Hawaii? Would locals be willing to forgo trips to Vegas and do their gambling here? Should we pass laws to legalize gambling?" There are various objections that are frequently raised. Will gambling attract more organized crime? Will people gamble away money earmarked for their families rent, food and clothing? Just how many jobs will be created that will contribute to good career development? Will gambling interfere with Hawaii's current image as an attractive tourist destination?
In addition to these reasonable concerns, I'd like to add some thoughts based on studies of human behavior. People make decisions about their behavior for multiple reasons. For example, people choose jobs with more than one outcome in mind. They may be attracted by a company's salary, but they also take into account working conditions, location, judgments about the competence of bosses and predictions about good relations with co-workers. Applied to Hawaii's gamblers, there is a population willing to risk money at the tables and on the slot machines. But in traveling to Las Vegas, they satisfy motives other than the pleasure they receive from taking risks.
People enjoy getting away from Hawaii for a short time and seeing different scenery when they look out their hotel windows. They enjoy the glitz and glamour of moving between the Luxor and Venetian, and then seeing the trapeze artists at Circus Circus. They can take a day trip to the Grand Canyon or to the Hoover Dam. The number and type of attractions that appeal to Vegas visitors would be impossible to duplicate in Hawaii.
In addition, travel out of Hawaii allows people to escape their everyday obligations. If people were gambling in Hawaii, their bosses might call them in for overtime work. Employers are far less likely to take this step if their workers are in Vegas. People can also escape family obligations for a short time. If they are in Vegas, they have an excuse for not attending a cousin's high school graduation and listening to the same commencement speech they have heard before. Or, they don't have to attend a family gathering where relatives they don't care for will be in attendance. By traveling, they have an excuse that is well accepted in Hawaii: "Sorry, can't come. I'll be in Vegas." People will not have this excuse if they say they are planning to drive to a casino on Oahu.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
The purpose of this column is to increase understanding of human behavior as it has an impact on the workplace. Given the amount of time people spend at work, job satisfaction should ideally be high and it should contribute to general life happiness. Enjoyment can increase as people learn more about workplace psychology, communication, and group influences.
Richard Brislin is a professor in the College of Business Administration, University of Hawaii. He can be reached through the College Relations Office: cro@cba.hawaii.edu