To think men take more risks than women do?

[pregahes]

Just that really. Having a debate and I think this is the case.

What are your thoughts and if you agree, why do you think this is? Nature or Nurture?

Depends what sort of "risks" you're talking about.

Just walking down a deserted street at night is a much higher risk activity for a woman. We're obliged to take risks that just don't apply to men.

Exactly this.
What kind of risks were you thinking of op??

I mean choices, so sports, lifestyle choices not things that aren't optional

So lying and thinking they won't be caught for example, job choices, in the workplace etc...

I think it's pretty much an accepted fact isn't it.

@OneTC but why do you think this is?

Testosterone

I think there’s been a lot of research to support this.

I’m guessing it’s a mix of nature and nurture, as are most things.

I think it’s an important part of girls’ education to be taught to be more comfortable with risk, which is why I find it annoying when people say the current education system works better for girls than boys - it may do to get them through school, but it often doesn’t translate into the work place, where men start to do better.

I think men are just socialised to always put themselves first. Women are socialised to consider the impact of their choices on other people. For example moving away from family for a job, men just go where women consider the impact on their family.

I have seen this conclusion in studies but these were very much criticised because the examples chosen as examples of risk were things like extreme sports, motorbiking, things that were male dominated. When these were controlled for it was much more equal.

Then as pp said, things are inherently more risky for women. Getting into any physical altercation, travelling alone, even things like speeding because we are more likely then men to be injured in the same collision. It's actually a very difficult thing to study.

Yes men are more likely to engage in risky behaviours - they are less able to identify risk than women. Lots of behavioural and psychological studies on it, but really you can just look at the driving!

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/judgment-and-decision-making/article/gender-differences-in-risk-assessment-why-do-women-take-fewer-risks-than-men/3386EA020D940A2805EA3785662E7832

But men walking down the street are at the same risk of getting attacked as women. Men are murdered annually at 4 times the rate of women. How many violent attacks and sexual assaults on women are there? - BBC News Obviously almost all these attacks are carried out by other men but it is still a risk men take.

I do think men are move likely to take leisure risks, so Mountaineering, BASE jumping, sailing single handed across the atlantic etc. It would be interesting to see what impact being a parent has on this.

I guess on an evolutionary level men were the ones who would often put themselves in danger to bring home food for the family so it was useful for them to develop a higher tolerance to risk. It was more important women developed survival instincts as they were more directly involved raising the children.

@CroftonWillow good point about evolution

And despite this men take less care in general in going places that many women would deem too dangerous

I think their inflated belief in their own abilities and heightened self confidence means they don't accurately risk assess. Speed down a dark twisty road? I can handle this car! Cheat on my wife? I'm smart enough to get away with it! Throw in my job to start a business I know nothing about? I've got the skills to make it work! So less a case of feel the fear and do it anyway and more a case of there's nothing to fear for a guy like me.

Definitely. Look at the driver deaths of males vs females.

Testosterone is therefore likely to achieve its effects on risk taking behaviour because it affects the level of dopamine activity arising from neurons in the ventral tegmental area. For example, larger amounts of testosterone are associated with having more dopamine neurons, and more dopamine neurons could mean more dopamine will be released by ventral tegmental area neurons. It has, for example, also been shown that individuals who seem to display a greater level of risk taking behaviour have less of a certain type of dopamine receptor.

Yes but they are far more likely as a gender to carry out the attack and so their perception of risk is lower than a female's would be. They'd be more likely to think they could physically fend off someone. I don't know if you've ever asked a man which animal they think they could beat but Lion tends to come out quite often 🙄

Is it? Men are way more likely to be victims of random violence then women are. Most blokes I know when walking alone at night will cross the road to avoid a group of drunk men or avoid being near certain venues at kick out time.

Yes, which is really interesting. Men's perception of risk is very different I think.

I wonder if there's a subconscious element that they just don't value their own health/life as much as women. I know a lot of men who will refuse to see the doctor. It may be a bit of a macho thing but perhaps they just do't have the same concern for health that women do. On a brutally evolutionary level a man's life is more disposable than a woman's.

As someone that's always walked home at night, I disagree with this.

There's more chance of a guy getting mugged on their way home, as more guys are muggers than rapists.

Yes they do take more risks. At least that is how they were originally wired. Society could change that. Their brains are more variable too, greater highs and achievements but greater lows and depravity. Manic depression is a good example, far more common men.

Yeah I'm not disputing that the attackers will be men. Women are shit at attacking people and attacking people is a poor survival strategy if you're not very good at it.

The fact that blokes are more likely to get attacked, but go out anyway, is probably part of the reason they get attacked more often, but is also evidence of poor risk assessment.

It's obviously not universal and there's many other factors at play, I consider myself risk averse but I do lots of things that many people would consider risky like climbing and caving