title: The Impact of Menstrual Cycle Phase on Economic Choice and Rationality.
abstract: It is well known that hormones affect both brain and behavior, but less is known about the extent to which hormones affect economic decision-making. Numerous studies demonstrate gender differences in attitudes to risk and loss in financial decision-making, often finding that women are more loss and risk averse than men. It is unclear what drives these effects and whether cyclically varying hormonal differences between men and women contribute to differences in economic preferences. We focus here on how economic rationality and preferences change as a function of menstrual cycle phase in women. We tested adherence to the Generalized Axiom of Revealed Preference (GARP), the standard test of economic rationality. If choices satisfy GARP then there exists a well-behaved utility function that the subject's decisions maximize. We also examined whether risk attitudes and loss aversion change as a function of cycle phase. We found that, despite large fluctuations in hormone levels, women are as technically rational in their choice behavior as their male counterparts at all phases of the menstrual cycle. However, women are more likely to choose risky options that can lead to potential losses while ovulating; during ovulation women are less loss averse than men and therefore more economically rational than men in this regard. These findings may have market-level implications: ovulating women more effectively maximize expected value than do other groups.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Stephanie C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Lazzaro
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London, United Kingdom.|Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Robb B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Rutledge
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, Sacramento State University, Sacramento, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Daniel R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Burghart
authors.affiliation: Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Paul W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Glimcher
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008597:Menstrual Cycle / Q000523:psychology*; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D055815:Young Adult
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2011 May 18;31(20):7527-32
references.pmid: 21593337
references.citation: J Pers Soc Psychol. 2007 Jan;92(1):151-63
references.pmid: 17201549
references.citation: Endocr Rev. 1999 Jun;20(3):279-307
references.pmid: 10368772
references.citation: Clin Chem Lab Med. 2006;44(7):883-7
references.pmid: 16776638
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Mar 31;106(13):5035-40
references.pmid: 19289824
references.citation: Recent Prog Horm Res. 2002;57:357-84
references.pmid: 12017552
references.citation: Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2009 Dec;35(12):1592-601
references.pmid: 19762716
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 Oct 15;110(42):17143-8
references.pmid: 24082105
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Nov 1;102(44):16060-5
references.pmid: 16247013
references.citation: Psychopharmacology (Berl). 1999 Jul;145(1):67-75
references.pmid: 10445374
references.citation: Endocrinology. 1998 Dec;139(12):5267-70
references.pmid: 9832469
references.citation: Proc Biol Sci. 2008 May 7;275(1638):991-1000
references.pmid: 18252670
references.citation: Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2002 Feb;159(4):397-406
references.pmid: 11823892
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Feb 13;104(7):2465-70
references.pmid: 17267613
references.citation: Adv Contracept. 1997 Jun-Sep;13(2-3):83-95
references.pmid: 9288325
references.citation: N Engl J Med. 1995 Dec 7;333(23):1517-21
references.pmid: 7477165
references.citation: Endocrinology. 2008 Jun;149(6):2750-6
references.pmid: 18308838
references.citation: Psychoneuroendocrinology. 1985;10(3):325-35
references.pmid: 3903822
references.citation: Biol Psychol. 2013 Apr;93(1):52-7
references.pmid: 23352995
references.citation: Science. 2007 Jan 26;315(5811):515-8
references.pmid: 17255512
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2005 Oct 5;25(40):9309-16
references.pmid: 16207891
references.citation: Proc Biol Sci. 1998 May 22;265(1399):927-33
references.pmid: 9633114
references.citation: J Risk Uncertain. 2013 Jun;46(3):null
references.pmid: 24244072