The racial and ethnic gap in behavioral measures rivals the gender gap in the United States

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Dariel, Aurelie; Ham, John C.; Nikiforakis, Nikos; Stoop, Jan
• 署名单位: New York University; New York University Abu Dhabi; New York University; New York University Abu Dhabi; New York University; New York University; Erasmus University Rotterdam; Erasmus University Rotterdam - Excl Erasmus MC; Tilburg University
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2527671123
• 发表日期: 2026-02-10
• 页码: e2527671123
• 关键词: behavioral measures; competitiveness; risk tolerance; racial/ethnic/gender gaps; United States; HEALTH; people

摘要

Behavioral research has been criticized for relying on demographically narrow WEIRD samples-Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic. While recent work has expanded to explore cross-country behavioral differences, the study of within-country variation has largely focused on gender, ignoring race and ethnicity-so much so that the W in WEIRD might as well stand for White. Using incentivized tasks and a large, stratified sample of U.S. adults, we document substantial racial and ethnic gaps in competitiveness and risk tolerance both of which are widely studied behavioral measures: (non-Hispanic) Whites are less competitive and more risk tolerant than Blacks and Hispanics. These gaps are comparable in magnitude to the corresponding gender gaps in our sample. Notably, gender differences do not generalize across racial and ethnic groups: Whereas Whites and Hispanics exhibit gender gaps in competitiveness and risk tolerance, Black women neither shy away from competition nor are they less risk tolerant than Black men. These findings challenge prevailing generalizations in the literature and underscore the importance of examining race and ethnicity in behavioral research.