Gender Differences in Stereotypes of Risk Preferences: Experimental Evidence from a Matrilineal and a Patrilineal Society

Andreas Pondorfer (), Toman Barsbai and Ulrich Schmidt ()
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Andreas Pondorfer: Kiel Institute for the World Economy, 24105 Kiel, Germany
Ulrich Schmidt: Kiel Institute for the World Economy, 24105 Kiel, Germany; University of Kiel, 24118 Kiel, Germany; and Department of Economics and Econometrics, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park 2006, South Africa

Management Science, 2017, vol. 63, issue 10, 3268-3284

Abstract: We use a controlled experiment to analyze gender differences in stereotypes about risk preferences of men and women across two distinct island societies in the Pacific: the patrilineal Palawan in the Philippines and the matrilineal Teop in Papua New Guinea. We find no gender differences in actual risk preferences, but we find evidence for culture-specific stereotypes. Like men in Western societies, Palawan men overestimate women’s actual risk aversion. By contrast, Teop men underestimate women’s actual risk aversion. We argue that the observed differences in stereotypes between the two societies are determined by the different social status of women.

Keywords: gender roles; culture; stereotype; experiment; risk aversion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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