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Room composition effects on risk taking by gender

Author

Listed:
  • Marco Castillo

    (Texas A&M University
    The Melbourne Institute)

  • Greg Leo

    (Vanderbilt University)

  • Ragan Petrie

    (Texas A&M University
    The Melbourne Institute)

Abstract

We present evidence of a direct social context effect on decision-making under uncertainty: the gender composition of those in the room when making individual risky decisions significantly alters choices even when the actions or presence of others are not payoff relevant. In our environment, decision makers do not know the choices made by others, nor can they be inferred from the experiment. We find that women become more risk taking as the proportion of men in the room increases, but the behavior of men is unaffected by who is present. We discuss some potential mechanisms for this result and conjecture it is driven by women being aware of the social context and imitating the expected behavior of others. Our results imply that the environment in which individual decisions are made can change expressed preferences and that aggregate behavior may be context dependent.

Suggested Citation

  • Marco Castillo & Greg Leo & Ragan Petrie, 2020. "Room composition effects on risk taking by gender," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 23(3), pages 895-911, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:expeco:v:23:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s10683-019-09635-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s10683-019-09635-w
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    2. Schmidt, Ulrich & Friedl, Andreas & Eichenseer, Michael & Lima de Miranda, Katharina, 2021. "Social comparison and gender differences in financial risk taking," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 58-72.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender; Decision context effects; Risk aversion; Experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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