Abstract
BackgroundDecisions 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.Methodology/Principal FindingsIn 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/SignificanceAcute 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.
Highlights
Many of our decisions involve choosing whether to take a riskier action that has a larger potential reward or a safer, more conservative course of action
Of particular interest when considering stress effects on decision making, regions of the brain that play a key role in risk processing are part of the core brain-body feedback loop [7] and are responsive to stressful experiences [e.g., 10,11]
Recent studies using neuroimaging show that acute stress influences activity within brain regions regulating homeostasis and emotions and that the activation in these regions correlate with circulating cortisol levels [12,13,14]
Summary
Many of our decisions involve choosing whether to take a riskier action that has a larger potential reward or a safer, more conservative course of action Sometimes, such decisions must be made under stress, such as stock trading decisions during a market crash or decisions about speeding through yellow traffic lights when late for a meeting. The brain and the rest of the body are engaged in constant communication to maintain the body’s dynamic equilibrium [8] Stressful experiences threaten this homeostasis and elicit sympathetic nervous system responses and stimulate the release of cortisol [9]. These stress responses mobilize the body’s resources to respond to a challenge while activating feedback loops in the brain that help reinstate homeostasis. Research on behavioral and brain differences in stress responses suggest that stress might have different effects on risk taking in males and females
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