Acute stress increases sex differences in risk seeking in the balloon analogue risk task.
BACKGROUND
Decisions involving risk often must be made under stressful circumstances. Research on behavioral and brain differences in stress responses suggest that stress might have different effects on risk taking in males and females.


RESULTS
In this study, participants played a computer game designed to measure risk taking (the Balloon Analogue Risk Task) fifteen minutes after completing a stress challenge or control task. Stress increased risk taking among men but decreased it among women.


CONCLUSIONS
Acute stress amplifies sex differences in risk seeking; making women more risk avoidant and men more risk seeking. Evolutionary principles may explain these stress-induced sex differences in risk taking behavior.
Lighthall
Nichole R
NR
Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. nichole.lighthall@usc.edu
Mather
Mara
M
Gorlick
Marissa A
MA
D003080:Cold Temperature; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis
D006854:Hydrocortisone