New Research Suggests That Fear Causes Women To Make Different Financial Decisions, Opting For Immediate Monetary Rewards As Opposed To Larger Yet Riskier Delayed Ones
When you’re afraid, do you make different financial decisions? A new study suggests that our response might be dependent on gender.
Recent findings from research conducted in Italy indicate that instilling fear in women leads them to devalue future outcomes more than men, prioritizing immediate monetary gains instead. Yet, men’s decisions concerning monetary rewards remained unaffected by their emotional state.
Decision-making involves selecting one path of action from several available choices. This cognitive process commonly begins with recognizing a problem or a decision-making juncture. Then, individuals gather and scrutinize pertinent information.
Afterward, people weigh the potential consequences of different options, taking into account aspects like advantages, drawbacks, expenses, and individual values or inclinations. This assessment frequently entails comparing the probable effects of each alternative, utilizing either intuitive assessment or structured, methodical approaches.
However, an individual’s decision-making process can be influenced by their emotional state, cognitive biases, societal influences, and previous experiences. These things shape the perceived attractiveness of various options.
So, in routine decision-making scenarios, people often encounter dilemmas involving trade-offs between immediate and delayed benefits and drawbacks. Frequently, they also find themselves deliberating between holding out for a larger yet later reward or selecting a smaller, instant gratification.
For instance, people may choose between investing in their retirement fund or using their extra savings on a sooner vacation. Or, they may deliberate between going to school and potentially earning a larger future income or going straight to work for a lower wage.
Regardless of the specifics, this assessment of weighing and determining whether it’s more advantageous to await a greater reward or embrace a smaller one immediately is known as “delay discounting.”
So, the researchers sought to investigate the impact of emotions and gender on delay discounting. To do this, they conducted an online experiment in which participants were exposed to movie clips known to elicit particular emotions. Then, the team had the participants engage in a computerized task that involved hypothetical monetary rewards.
InsideCreativeHouse – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
The study authors’ hypothesis was that people experiencing fear would exhibit a preference for immediate rewards, perceiving them as less risky.
On the flip side, happiness was anticipated to instill a sense of predictability, promoting optimistic risk evaluations and a heightened readiness to wait for larger and riskier delayed rewards.
A total of 308 participants completed an online survey for this study. They were recruited through the distribution of the survey across various platforms, and they were also encouraged to share it further to increase participation. Participating in this survey was voluntary, and participants did not receive any compensation.
Once participants opted in to take the survey, the system randomly allocated participants into three different groups. The first group watched 2-minute clips designed to evoke fear; meanwhile, another group watched clips aimed at inducing joy, and the third group observed neutral clips. Each group was also exposed to four different clips to ensure there was consistency.
Then, the participants proceeded to undertake a delay discounting task. This task included numerous trials in which participants were required to decide between two virtual monetary amounts.
The first was a smaller immediate sum of approximately $21,000, and the second was a large sum of nearly $43,000 that would be available in one to 10 years.
Additionally, the study participants underwent evaluations of their emotional state, levels of anxiety, depression, and stress, as well as impulsivity.
The study revealed that after viewing fear-inducing clips, women demonstrated greater delay discounting compared to men. This implies that fear inclined them towards selecting immediate rewards over delayed ones.
However, there weren’t any gender disparities observed after viewing joyful or neutral clips.
Still, in comparison to the joyful condition, women exhibited a steeper discounting rate after feeling fearful.
“We found an increased tendency to opt for immediate rewards by women when in a fearful condition as opposed to men. Also, women were more prone to choose immediate rewards when in a fearful condition than when in a positive state of joy/happiness,” the researchers concluded.
“By contrast, when in a positive or neutral emotional state, females and males did not differ.”
The findings have helped offer new insights into gender variances in decision-making. Nonetheless, it’s important to acknowledge some limitations.
Primarily, the study employed hypothetical monetary scenarios in an online setting. Additionally, the emotions elicited by the clips were likely of moderate intensity and temporary in nature.
So, the findings might not align with decision-making outcomes in real-life contexts or under more potent emotional states.
To read the study’s complete findings, which have since been published in PLOS ONE, visit the link here.
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