The decision-making mechanism for men and women is practically the same … as long as they are calm. But in a stressful situation, their cognitive strategies are diametrically opposed.
It is generally accepted that in a difficult stressful situation, women are overwhelmed by emotions, and they lose their heads. But men, as a rule, know how to pull themselves together, maintain restraint and composure. “There is such a stereotype,” confirms Therese Huston, author of How Women Make Decisions.1. — That is why in difficult life conflicts the right to make a responsible decision is usually given to men. However, the latest data from neuroscientists say that such ideas are unfounded.
Ice water test
Cognitive neuroscientist Mara Mather and her colleagues at the University of Southern California set out to find out How stress affects decision making. Participants were invited to play a computer game. It was necessary to earn as much money as possible by inflating virtual balloons. The more the balloon inflated, the more money the participant won. At the same time, he could stop the game at any time and take the winnings. However, the balloon could burst as it was inflated, in which case the participant no longer received any money. It was impossible to predict in advance when the ball was already “on the verge”, it was determined by the computer.
It turned out that the behavior of men and women in this game was no different.while they were in a calm, relaxed state.
But biologists were interested in what happens in a stressful situation. To do this, the subjects were asked to dip their hand into ice water, which caused them to have a rapid pulse and increased blood pressure. It turned out that women in this case stopped the game earlier, inflating the ball 18% less than in a calm state. That is, they preferred to get a more modest gain than to take risks by playing further.
The men did exactly the opposite. Under stress, they took more risks, inflating the balloon more and more, in the hope of getting a solid jackpot.
Blame cortisol?
A group of researchers led by neuroscientist Ruud van den Bos from the University of Neimingen (Netherlands) came to similar conclusions. They believe that men’s desire to take risks in a stressful situation is caused by the hormone cortisol. Unlike adrenaline, which is immediately released into the bloodstream in response to a threat, cortisol enters the bloodstream slowly to provide us with the necessary energy 20-30 minutes later.
Men’s desire to take risks in a stressful situation is caused by the hormone cortisol.
The effects of these hormones on men and women are diametrically opposed. Let’s explain with an example. Imagine that you received a message from your boss: «Come to my place, we need to talk urgently.» You have not received such invitations before, and you begin to worry. You go to the boss’s office, but he is on the phone, you have to wait. Finally, the boss invites you into the office and informs you that he will have to leave because his father is in serious condition. He asks you, «What responsibilities could you take on in my absence?»
According to the study, women in such a situation are more likely to take on what they are good at and what they are sure to cope with. But men will claim the most ambitious projects, and they will be much less worried about the possibility of failure.
Both strategies have strengths
These differences can also be related to the way the brain works, as evidenced by another study by Mara Mater. It was built on the same computer game with balls. But at the same time, scientists scanned the brains of the participants to determine which areas were most active during decision-making under stress. It turned out that two areas of the brain — the putamen and the anterior insular lobe — in men and women reacted in exactly the opposite way.
Putamen assesses whether it is necessary to act now, and if so, he gives the brain a signal: immediately proceed to action. However, when a person makes a risky decision, the anterior insula sends out a signal: «Sentry, this is risky!»
In men during the experiment, both the putamen and the anterior insular lobe acted in the alarm mode. In a sense, they simultaneously signaled: “We must act immediately!” and «Damn it, I’m taking a big risk!» It turns out that men reacted emotionally to their risky decisions, which does not quite correspond to ordinary ideas about men.
But for women it was the other way around. The activity of both these areas of the brain, on the contrary, decreased, as if they were giving the commands “There is no need to rush”, “Let’s not take risks unnecessarily”. That is, unlike men, women did not experience tension and nothing pushed them to make hasty decisions.
In a stressful situation, the brain of women says: «Let’s not take risks without need»
Which strategy is better? Sometimes men take risks and win, achieving brilliant results. And sometimes their ill-conceived actions lead to collapse, and then women with their more cautious and balanced approach manage to rectify the situation. Consider, for example, famous female executives such as Mary T. Barra of General Motors or Marissa Mayer of Yahoo, who took over the leadership of companies in a severe crisis and made them prosperous.
For details, see newspapers The Guardian and Forbes magazine.
1 T. Huston «How Women Decide: What’s True, What’s Not, and What Strategies Spark the Best Choices» (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016).