====== Lottery ticket swaps ======

Because the results of (well constructed) lotteries are essentially [[content:mathematics:random_numbers|random]], no one ticket is any more likely to win than any other. However, several studies have shown that those who are in possession of a lottery ticket are usually //very reluctant to swap it// (even though the other ticket has exactly the same chances of winning).

A 2007 study performed at Cornell University suggested that :

>[..] this effect occurs because the act of imagining an exchanged ticket winning the lottery increases the belief that such an event is likely to occur."\\ \\ [source link below]

Another theory is that gamblers are protecting themselves against the feelings of regret they might experience if, after having swapped a ticket, their original ticket ended up winning.

See:[[https://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/-/media/faculty/jane-risen/research/lotterytickets.pdf|Another Look at Why People Are Reluctant to Exchange Lottery Tickets]] //Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, //Vol. 93, No. 1, 12–22

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Also see : [[content:mathematics:envelope_paradox]]