[game_edu] What is the name for this principle?

[Alan Au]

Sorry, late to the party, and caveat that I'm *not* officially trained in this. Still, I've looked at some of the issues around the "addiction" argument that gets floated from time to time. Long story short, it's still up for debate. 

Loss aversion is based on Prospect Theory, which has more to do with consumer valuations and may not really be what you want here. 

I'm thinking that general "compulsion" is what's going on here. 

Gambling problems are sometimes classified as impulse control disorder. Then there's the standard operant conditioning, usually associated with in-game reward mechanics. 

When presented with a new game, it may also involve classical conditioning in combination with priming from previous experiences.

So yes, I think it's great to try and identify an exact name for this behavior, but it's possible that it hasn't been coined yet for your specific circumstances.

- Alan