Sex differences in risk taking and its attribution

Abstract

In the original Kogan-Wallach Choice Dilemmas Questionnaire (CDQ), an oftused measure of risk-taking disposition, the central character in the majority of items is male. For this study, a revised 10-item CDQ was constructed with content appropriate for both sexes. Two forms were employed, identical in all respects except for the use of a male or female name to identify the central protagonist in each CDQ item. When the two forms were administered to male and female undergraduates, the female form elicited somewhat higher levels of risk taking. This effect was especially pronounced in the male subjects. When asked to specify how their peers would respond to each of the CDQ items, subjects attributed greater caution to female than to male peers relative to their own preferred risk level. The outcomes suggest that subjects (especially males) find highly achieving women in the CDQ items more “exceptional” than their male counterparts, and hence able to tolerate more risk. In striking contrast, subjects' female peers are considered a rather cautious lot.