Gender and preferences at a young age: evidence from Armenia

We look at gender differences in competitiveness, risk preferences and altruism in a large sample of children and adolescents aged 7 to 16 in Armenia. Post-Soviet Armenia has few formal barriers to gender equality but is also characterized by a patrilineal kinship system and traditional gender roles. In contrast to research conducted in Western countries, we find that girls increase their performance more than boys in response to competition in a running task. We find no gender differences in the other three tasks we explore: skipping rope, a mathematical task, and a verbal task. We also find no difference in the willingness to compete in either the mathematical or the verbal task. In line with previous research, we find that boys are less altruistic and more risk taking than girls, and that the latter gap appears around the age of puberty

Hormonal Contraceptives Do Not Impact Economic Preferences: Evidence from a Randomized Trial

A growing body of correlational studies suggests that sex hormones such as those contained in, or affected by, oral contraceptives (OCs) may impact economic behavior. However, despite widespread use of OCs among women in Western countries, little is known about their potential behavioral effects. The present study investigates whether OCs causally influence economic preferences. We randomly allocate 340 women aged 18–35 to three months of a widely used OC or placebo treatment. At the end of treatment, we conduct an economic experiment measuring altruism, financial risk taking, and willingness to compete. The statistical power is 80% to detect an effect size equal to a Cohen’s d of 0.30 at the 5% level. We find no significant effects of OCs on any of the measured preferences, indicating that this widely used OC treatment, commonly used throughout the world, does not significantly affect the measured economic preferences. Further, we find no relation between menstrual cycle phase and economic preferences in the placebo group.ISSN:0025-1909ISSN:1526-550

Reading the TED talk genre: Contradictions and pedagogical pleasures in spreading ideas about management

Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) talks have become a powerful way of communicating management ideas to global audiences. This raises questions about how management educators should engage with TED talks. This paper uses literary theory to understand TED talks as a distinct genre in order to explore how students ‘read’ TED talks and the pleasures that they gain from this. Based on an analysis of TED talks, books about TED talks, focus groups and interviews with management students, we identify three contradictions in the genre: (i) freedom to learn (ii) authenticity of speakers and texts, and (iii) emotional connection as a source of pleasure. The kind of reading pleasure that TED talks encourage is characterized by plaisir, an easygoing enjoyment which does not challenge readers’ assumptions and supports surface learning. This is contrasted with jouissance, a pleasure that produces disturbance and leaves the subject altered. We suggest that management educators can work to enable students to become critical, reflexive readers who understand the importance of these new genres in producing meaning. By exposing the contradictory nature of reading TED talks, we contribute to understanding the storied nature of scientific knowledge and the role of power in communicating ideas about management

Stimulus and observer characteristics jointly determine the relevance of threatening facial expressions and their interaction with attention

International audienc