Visceral Influences on Gender Difference in Competitiveness

Numerous studies show that men are more competitive than women in a stylized experimental design, in which subjects first perform one piece-rate task and one tournament task, and then choose whether to compete for a subsequent task. Here we examine visceral influences on gender difference in competitiveness. In Experiment 1, we show that hormonal responses induced by the first two tasks partially account for the observed gender difference and men but not women are more competitive when the progesterone response is higher. In Experiment 2, we show that a rest period after the first two tasks reduces the competitiveness of men but not women. Moreover, comparing across studies in the literature, we show that men, but not women, are more competitive for studies with longer duration of the first two tasks. These results demonstrate visceral influences on competitiveness of men but not women and help explain the observed variability across studies.