Risky business: Stressed men more likely to gamble
New research, to be published July 1 in the journal PLoS One, shows that men under stress may be more likely to take risks, correlating to such real-life behavior as gambling, smoking, unsafe sex and illegal drug use
In contrast, stressed women moderate their behavior and may be less likely to make risky choices, the study found.
"Evolutionarily speaking, it's perhaps more beneficial for men to be aggressive in stressful, high-arousal situations when risk and reward are involved,"
"Applied to financial risk taking, it's akin to competition for territory or other valuable resources."
Stressful experiences have been shown to stimulate the release of cortisol, commonly known as the "stress hormone." Participants randomly assigned to the stress group held a hand in ice-cold water, which raised cortisol levels, particularly among female participants. No participants were using hormone birth control.
clipped from: www.physorg.com