I found a very interesting article on CNN.com entitled, "Men's brains link sex and money." After coming across this interesting title, I had to click to read more about it. According to a Standford University study on 15 heterosexual men, "When young men were shown erotic pictures, they were more likely to make a larger financial gamble than if they were shown a picture of something scary, such as a snake, or something neutral, such as a stapler." Interestingly enough after researching brain scans, researchers discovered that the arousing pictures lit up the same part of the brain that lights up when financial risks are taken. According to Kevin McCabe, professor of economics, law and neuroscience at George Mason University, "The link between sex and greed goes back hundreds of thousands of years, to men's evolutionary role as provider or resource gatherer to attract women." When the men were shown pictures of something scary, they bet lower and took less financial risks in the study.
This can help explain why casinos and gambling are such a booming industry; they are surrounded with sex and money. One of the main professors involved in the study believes that this may also be the case for women, but it is harder to prove because it is more difficult to find an erotic image that would appeal to many different heterosexual women compared to heterosexual men.
To read more about this topic please refer to the article at http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/04/finance.sex.ap/index.html?iref=24hours
5 comments:
What a great comparison between the casino industry and this research study! One of the most interesting things in this class is learning about the great biological influence on the way we do things, what gender we idenify with and even down to the way that we spend our money due to attraction, as this study shows. Studies like this are so important to the continued education on these topics to learn more about our society.
hahaha....the presumption that the connection to money and sex is only in the MAN'S BRAIN is laughable. Did this study at Stanford really assume that this connection to excitement (sex) with risk taking (money)to be a gendered phenomenon? Aren't women equally susceptible to erotic advertisements? Women's brains and men's brains are no different in this department because WE HAVE THE SAME BRAINS. HUMAN BRAINS. Women love money and sex just as much as men and would be affected the same. It is not a biological basis or scientific basis that this occurs in, but in a CULTURAL context that this might occur with more men than women OPENLY in the United States or any other captialist/materialistic society.
That’s an interesting study and a good comparison in regards to the casinos. I think if the study was expanded and the men were shown a variety of pictures even more general conclusion could be made. It makes sense to me that one would be less willing to take risks when they are not excited or inspired in some way. Therefore, I would expect to see the results that derived from the study. I think for what it’s worth it’s an interesting study. However, I do not think it is infallible or necessarily useful. I think far more research should be conducted on a larger population before such bold comparisons are made that feed into gendered views.
I think that one of the most interesting points of the article is it was stated that the study would harder to prove on women because it is more difficult to find an erotic image that would appeal to many different heterosexual women.
Why happens in the masculine culture or a mans' biology that makes us easily aroused when compared to our XX counterparts? Or is it even biological or cultural that makes the arousal more uniform. What else could cause this discrepancy?
I just wanted to comment on the statement that it's supposedly easy to find a common denominator for hetero-male attraction, but not so easy for the researchers to find a common hetero-female attraction denominator. Is this really all that hard to figure out? With a few 8-pack guys thrown here and there in women magazines, there is no comparison to how much more women are displayed throughout all mediums. The point being as a guy we are shown from day one practically what physical attributes a women should have to appeal to us (men) and conversely women are shown how to achieve those qualities. Therefore, how can women be lumped together as easily as men can be when the majority the imagery pushed on them is how to look better for men. They are not bombarded like men are with attractive pictures of the opposite sex nearly as much. Considering the type of images pushed on women, it's surprising they never stop looking at themselves or stay straight. OK, they do look at themselves a lot more...but you get my point. ;) In regards to ziggy stardust's comments, I do agree we all have human brains and sex and money does factor into all our thoughts in some way or another. And I do agree that it is a cultural thing, but at what point does cultural context become overshadowed by near global perception?
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