Choking under Pressure and Gender: Evidence from Professional Tennis

Danny Cohen-Zada (), Alex Krumer, Mosi Rosenboim () and Offer Moshe Shapir ()
Additional contact information
Danny Cohen-Zada: Ben Gurion University
Mosi Rosenboim: Ben Gurion University
Offer Moshe Shapir: New York University Shanghai

No 10587, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We exploit a unique setting in which two professionals compete in a real-life tennis contest with high monetary rewards in order to assess how men and women respond to competitive pressure. Comparing their performance in low-stakes versus high-stakes situations, we find that men consistently choke under competitive pressure, but with regard to women the results are mixed. Furthermore, even if women show a drop in performance in the more crucial stages of the match, it is in any event about 50% smaller than that of men. These findings are robust to different specifications and estimation strategies.

Keywords: gender; performance; competitive pressure; tennis; choking (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 46 pages
Date: 2017-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-gen and nep-spo
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (64)

Published - Published in: Journal of Economic Psychology, 2017, 61, 176-190

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Journal Article: Choking under pressure and gender: Evidence from professional tennis (2017)
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