The Competitive Woman: Evolutionary Insights and Cross-cultural Evidence into Finding the Femina Economica
Abstract: We propose to explain the gender gap in competitiveness often found in economic experiments with a theoretical framework rooted in evolutionary psychology: Women evolved adaptations to trade off the motivation to acquire resources in competitive environments for effort dedicated to invest directly into offspring, to attract and retain mates, and to not alienate potential allies. Such a tradeoff does not appear binding with the same intensity for men. We offer some initial tests of this idea by conducting a series of experiments using cash and vouchers (in-kind payments dedicated to either children’s needs, gender specific interests or gender neutral interests) to reward subjects at different life stages (parents and non-parents) from countries differing in economic development and culture (China, Togo, Sierra Leone, Bosnia and Colombia). Our main hypothesis is that the type of reward used in the experiment matters, as different types (cash or voucher) may induce specific frames which activate the motivation to compete in different domains of interest, with behavioral predictions that depend on an individual’s sex and life stage (parent and non-parent). Consistent with this view, our results on parents from China, Togo, and Sierra Leone show that, once the incentives are switched from cash to child-benefitting, sex differences in competitiveness disappear. Data on non-parents from Bosnia show that, once cash is substituted by gender stereotypical vouchers (e.g. beauty supplies or sporting goods), gender differences substantially decrease. Importantly, economic and cultural elements matter, as not all societies exhibit a gender gap to start with (Colombia and Nana Benz of Togo).
