The Ultimatum Game
In the "ultimatum game", player 1 offers a division of a pool of money, and player 2 accepts or rejects the offer. If rejected, neither party benefits. The game is played only once, so relationship building and reciprocation are (theoretically) not factors. Terence Burnham (2007) suggests that men with higher testosterone are more likely to reject "stingy" offers, as described in The Economist (July 2007). Burnham suggests that this is related to status-seeking behaviour. Sara Solnick (2001), using a different variation of the ultimatum game, found that men received higher offers, especially from women, when the gender of the players was available (based on first-name gender). In an earlier study, Solnick and Schweitzer (1999) had found that men were offered more, and rejected less often for lower offers, while attractive people of both sexes were offered more, but rejected more often for lower offers.
Differences other than gender have also been identified. Oosterbeek et al's (2001) cultural meta-analysis found that people in the Western U.S. made fairer offers and rejected offers less often than people in Eastern U.S. states. Paraguay had the highest average offer rate, while Peru had the lowest. Guth et al (2007) in a three-person variant of the game, found that older people and women were more likely to offer "fair" shares, and that internet users were more selfish than people using fax or mail to respond.
The sort of take-it-or-leave-it proposition created by the ultimatum game reminds me a lot of the no-haggle situations discussed last week in terms of salary negotiations. If Burnham's suggestion is correct, men will be more prepared to "leave it" than women will, at least under current social conditions. As for myself, I have to admit that I've always been deeply aware of rank and status. This awareness didn't make me uncomfortable prior to transition, but does now. I think the discomfort is more a factor of age, sanity, and social class than gender. I haven't really been able to shake the tendency, but I feel better keeping these judgments to myself now.
Differences other than gender have also been identified. Oosterbeek et al's (2001) cultural meta-analysis found that people in the Western U.S. made fairer offers and rejected offers less often than people in Eastern U.S. states. Paraguay had the highest average offer rate, while Peru had the lowest. Guth et al (2007) in a three-person variant of the game, found that older people and women were more likely to offer "fair" shares, and that internet users were more selfish than people using fax or mail to respond.
The sort of take-it-or-leave-it proposition created by the ultimatum game reminds me a lot of the no-haggle situations discussed last week in terms of salary negotiations. If Burnham's suggestion is correct, men will be more prepared to "leave it" than women will, at least under current social conditions. As for myself, I have to admit that I've always been deeply aware of rank and status. This awareness didn't make me uncomfortable prior to transition, but does now. I think the discomfort is more a factor of age, sanity, and social class than gender. I haven't really been able to shake the tendency, but I feel better keeping these judgments to myself now.