Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 01, 2008, Winnipeg, Manitoba C m y k Page b3 Winnipeg repress. Com life Winnipeg free press wednesday october 1, 2008 b 3                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        " # # "         $    %   &  # #                 .   /  %      0                                       & 1 2 0   0    3    3        $ .    $          % # 4  $   5    # #              $     6   7          8      & 9 # #          " #      $       %   $ &                %    $                                                  . O Ottawa men with High testosterone Levels make riskier investments than men with average or Low hormone Levels an economist and an anthropologist at Harvard University have found. Economists often think that rules and models make risk taking rational says the team but men Arentt just investing with their brains. And if you want to judge whether your financial adviser is rolling the Dice with your resp look at his face men with masculine features a result of High testosterone take More Money risks. The evolution of Wall streets hard charging Young men in red suspenders begins in prehistory. Humans evolved to Hunt with pointed Sticks not to invest says anthropologist Coren Apicella. For much of the time in our evolutionary history we we rent dealing with Money and so this is something thatus pretty novel to us she said. But our attitudes toward risk today Are shaped by All those years of risk taking As Hunters and gatherers when playing it Safe could mean going hungry. In the Harvard study a group of 100 Young men had their hormone Levels tested using saliva samples and then played a risky investment game. They were Given $ 250 and told they could keep it or invest All or part of it in a Coin toss. Winning the toss More than doubled the amount of Money they invested. Losing the toss lost the investment. Men with very High testosterone Levels invested 12 per cent More Money than average men. Those with Low testosterone invested the least. But the menus current testosterone level a snot the Only important Factor. Men with thin lipped Iron Jawed heavy bowed Arnold Schwarzenegger Type faces the result of High testosterone As teenagers also invested More heavily in the High risk bet. The theory is that adolescence is also when Young men Are developing adult attitudes to Independence and risk. Many studies have shown that men Are More overconfident than women when they invest in the Stock Market said economist Anna Reber the stud yes co author. Big trading houses that Are in trouble today have spent years promoting the big risk takers she said. Maybe it would be better if they selected More Semi risk taking people. More women perhaps she said. Women tend to be More risk averse than men. The study is published in a science journal called evolution and human behaviour. Can West news service More testosterone More risks study by Tom Spears the associated press archives men with Iron Jawed faces like Arnold Schwarzenegger Are High risk bettors. Investing has a lot to do with hormones a 03_ oct 01 08. Ind b3 9/ 30/ 08 6 20 50 pm ;