Sex or gender? Expanding the sex-based view by introducing masculinity and femininity as predictors of financial risk taking

Women have proven to be more risk-averse than men in investment decisions in many studies. In Western cultures, risk taking is perceived as a masculine characteristic. We therefore hypothesize that the more people associate themselves with masculine attributes, the more financial risks they tend to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of economic psychology 2008-04, Vol.29 (2), p.180-196
Main Authors: Meier-Pesti, Katja, Penz, Elfriede
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Advertising. Marketing. Consume behavior
Applied psychology
Biological and medical sciences
Femininity
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gender
Gender differences
Investment decision
Investment decisions
Investments
Masculinity
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Risk
Risk aversion
Sample surveys
Sex
Sex-roles
Social values
Studies
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Summary:Women have proven to be more risk-averse than men in investment decisions in many studies. In Western cultures, risk taking is perceived as a masculine characteristic. We therefore hypothesize that the more people associate themselves with masculine attributes, the more financial risks they tend to take, regardless of biological sex. Study 1 showed that differences between men and women in financial risk taking decreased when identification with masculine attributes remained constant. Femininity, on the other hand, was not related to financial risk taking. In the second study, gender priming on masculinity and femininity affected risk taking of the male sample.
ISSN:0167-4870
1872-7719
DOI:10.1016/j.joep.2007.05.002