Visceral influences and gender difference in competitiveness

Jingcheng Fu and Songfa Zhong

Journal of Economic Psychology, 2025, vol. 107, issue C

Abstract: Building upon the much-celebrated sex-specific hypothesis regarding visceral responses, we explore the potential impact of visceral responses on the well-replicated gender difference in competitiveness. In the first experiment, we document that exposure to the piece-rate and tournament tasks leads to an arousal of sex hormones among men, while women do not experience a similar response. This arousal is positively associated with competitiveness. In the second experiment, we observe that the gender gap in competitiveness is reduced by introducing a resting period. Our results contribute to the literature on gender differences in the willingness to compete and suggest that mitigating visceral influences is beneficial for promoting gender equality.

Keywords: Tournament; Piece rate; Competitiveness; Visceral influences; Sex hormone; Gender difference; Experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 D91 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:107:y:2025:i:c:s0167487024000965

DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2024.102788

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