Sex Differences in Choices of Tradeoffs between Success and Health

Abstract

Sexual selection theory and evolutionary psychology predict that males may be more willing than females to discount the future in the pursuit of short-term gains. Wilson et al. (1996) asked university students in Canada to make a choice in hypothetical dilemmas and indicated that males tended to choose their financial success at the cost of their health. In the hypothetical situation, the subject males were willing to be transferred from a small town to a new branch in big city for an increase in salary though the city was famous for its smog and severity of illness was high. This result, however, is not sufficient to prove that males are likely to choose tradeoff between success and health. There are some possibilities that relocation is more acceptable to males than to females. In this study I attempted to replicate Wilson et al.’s results (1996) using Japanese subjects. I also investigated whether the relocation factor affected the choice of males and females differently, using a modified questionnaire that included the hypothetical scenario without any mention of smog or its health effects.