The Financial Consequences of Too Many Men: Sex Ratio Effects on Saving, Borrowing, and Spending

• Published in: Journal of personality and social psychology 2012-01, Vol.102 (1), p.69-80
• Main Authors: Griskevicius, Vladas, Tybur, Joshua M., Ackerman, Joshua M., Delton, Andrew W., Robertson, Theresa E., White, Andrew E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Advertising. Marketing. Consume behavior; Affluence; Applied psychology; Bats; Biological and medical sciences; Borrowing; Competition; Competitive Behavior - physiology; Consequence; Consumer Behavior; Consumer behaviour; Courtship; Courtship - psychology; Culture; Decision Making; Decision Making - physiology; Decisions; Desire; Economics, Behavioral; Evolutionary Psychology; Expenditure; Expenditures; Female; Females; Finance; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gender differences; Human; Human Courtship; Human Males; Human Sex Differences; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Male; Male to female; Males; Men; Personal finance; Psychological Tests; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Reward; Savings; Sex Factors; Sex Ratio; Sex ratios; Social psychology; Socioeconomic Factors; United States; United States of America; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0022-3514; 1939-1315
• DOI: 10.1037/a0024761

The ratio of males to females in a population is an important factor in determining behavior in animals. We propose that sex ratio also has pervasive effects in humans, such as by influencing economic decisions. Using both historical data and experiments, we examined how sex ratio influences saving, borrowing, and spending in the United States. Findings show that male-biased sex ratios (an abundance of men) lead men to discount the future and desire immediate rewards. Male-biased sex ratios decreased men's desire to save for the future and increased their willingness to incur debt for immediate expenditures. Sex ratio appears to influence behavior by increasing the intensity of same-sex competition for mates. Accordingly, a scarcity of women led people to expect men to spend more money during courtship, such as by paying more for engagement rings. These findings demonstrate experimentally that sex ratio influences human decision making in ways consistent with evolutionary biological theory. Implications for sex ratio effects across cultures are discussed.