Characteristics of scheduled bleeding manipulation with combined hormonal contraception in university students
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2013
Department
Accounting and Finance
Abstract
Existing theories on life span changes in confidence or motivation suggest that individuals' preferences to enter competitive situations should gradually decline with age. We examined competitive preferences in a field experiment using real financial stakes in 25- to 75-year-olds (N = 543). The critical dependent variable was whether participants chose to perform a simple mental arithmetic task either under a piece-rate payment schedule (i.e., $.25 per solved item) or a competitive payment schedule ($.50 per solved item if the overall score is better than that of a randomly selected opponent, $0 otherwise). Results revealed that competitive preferences increased across the life span until they peaked around age 50, and dropped thereafter. We also found that throughout, men had a substantially larger preference for competing than women—extending previous findings on college-aged participants. The age/gender differences in preferences were neither accounted for by actual differences in performance nor individuals' subjective confidence. This first systematic attempt to characterize age differences in competitive behavior suggests that a simple decline conception of competitiveness needs to be reconsidered.
Citation
Lakehomer, H., Kaplan, P. F., Wozniak, D. G., & Minson, C. T. (2013). Characteristics of scheduled bleeding manipulation with combined hormonal contraception in university students. Contraception, 88(3), 426–430. doi:10.1016/j.contraception.2012.12.012