Women more likely take chances when around other women

When it comes to taking risks, if women are around other women for long enough they start behaving like men.

In an experiment at the University of Essex, Professor Alison Booth from the ANU Research School of Economics and colleagues, observed three groups of students – all male, all female and co-educational.

After eight weeks, they observed that women in the all female environment were more likely to take risks with real-stake lotteries than women who were with both male and female students. While men’s behaviour stayed the same no matter what environment they were in.

Professor Booth said that this research shows “risk-taking behaviour is not necessarily innate – it can be affected by the environment in which the individual is placed.”