How Stereotypes Influence Behavior

Women are generally thought to be more cautious than men, so does this translate over to financial decisions too? According to a new study published in Psychological Science, stereotypes like this about women actually influence how women make financial decisions, making them more wary of risk. Priyanka Carr of Stanford University and Claude Steele of Columbia University thought that the risk-taking differences between men and women might be the result of negative stereotypes—stereotypes about women being irrational and illogical. They designed experiments to study how women make financial decisions, when faced with negative stereotypes and when not.