Risk Preference, Gender, Responsibility: A Cross-Cultural Study from India

Abstract

The study critically engages the literature on gender differences in risk-taking and investigates how the decision-making environment causes variations in risk preferences. It specifically explores two environmental factors: cultural environments and an environment that increases responsibility. Through an experiment conducted in two small-scale societies, namely, the matrilineal Khasi and the patrilineal Santal, the study reveals evidence of higher risk aversion among women compared with men within each tribe. In addition, Khasi women exhibit greater risk aversion than Santal women, while Santal men demonstrate higher risk proneness than Khasi men. These findings align with the predictions of the economy of the scale model, which explores the impact of offspring provisioning on the gendered division of high- and low-risk labor. To assess the effect of increased responsibility, participants played the same game twice—once individually and once in groups where they were accountable for the payoffs of all group members. The results indicate that increased individual risk aversion further amplifies risk aversion in group settings. Overall, these findings suggest that psychological developments are influenced by a complex interplay between personality traits and the decision-making environment.