Cracking under pressure by topgold
Facing the many crossroads life presents to us, we are often forced to make decisions with limited time. While having prolonged experience with the word stress, many of us are not aware of the outcomes of making a decision under stress–this is called cracking under pressure. (Lame joke, did you laugh?)
A recent review article reports that under acute stress, our brain outweighs the positive over the negative–due to stress-induced changes in dopamine levels in the reward-processing brain regions–ignoring the consequences of an impulsive decision. This means that given limited time, we tend to go for decisions that result in immediate pleasure, rather than stopping and considering the possible downsides of that decision. While both males and females focus on the reward and less on the negative outcomes, it has also been found that males tend to take more risks than females under stress.
Researchers studied the response of individuals playing a computer game where they had to inflate balloons on screen. Although bigger balloons earned more points, each additional pump of air also meant an increase in the risk of popping the balloon. The males who have been previously stressed by putting their hands in an ice bath, tend to go for the extra pump in this game. The women previously stressed in the same way, however, responded in an opposite manner and went the safer route.
Dr. Mather, a psychology professor at the University of Southern California and the lead author of this review, says,
“What we found is that under stress, males are more likely to make risky choices and their decision strategies change so that they make their choices faster…whereas females under stress become more conservative and actually make their choices slower in this risky decision-making context.”
Decision under time constraint by Jeffrey Coolidge from Getty Images
So apparently, men tend to do better under stressful situations where you risk a lot but earn a lot, while women tend to do better when caution is warranted. This is again demonstrated through the financial market where several studies found that women investors actually outperform men. Aligning with this notion is also why we see less women prone to addiction than men–women tend to slow down and avoid the jeopardy that will lead to addiction.
Do you think this study was accurate? Personally, I tend to make more impulsive decisions under time constraint, such as buying something on sale and regretting it afterwards.
As students, I think it’s safe to say that we’re constantly under some degree of stress. So for all of you stressed-out souls, here is something funny I found while doing research for this topic. Want stress relief that will work 24/7? Now you can be permanently stress-free with Panic Away! (I hope you realize I’m kidding.)
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Read the full article from Time Healthland, here.
Read the review article by Dr. Mather as tagged above in PDF, here.
Read the article comparing women and men investors, here.
