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Who REALLY Wants to be a Millionaire? Gender Differences in Game Show Contestant Behavior Under Risk

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  • Daniel K. N. Johnson
  • Tracy R. Gleason
Abstract
Objective. On the popular game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire men appear to average higher winnings than women. This article investigates potential reasons, including different uses of information sources (lifelines) and different perceptions of risk. Method. We analyzed the decisions and resultant winnings of 164 contestants (95 men and 69 women) over 42 episodes of the show. Results. Gender‐based tests of Kahneman and Tversky's prospect theory demonstrated evidence of gender differences in the certainty effect and suggested the counterintuitive conclusion that men are rewarded for acting slightly more cautiously than do women. Conclusions. These gender differences may be owing to self‐selection of contestants, particularly for women, and to different goals: whereas men play to maximize their winnings, women may be less concerned with profit than with the experience as a whole. These findings suggest that examination of gender‐related behavior in other risky, high‐profile contexts may be worthwhile.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel K. N. Johnson & Tracy R. Gleason, 2009. "Who REALLY Wants to be a Millionaire? Gender Differences in Game Show Contestant Behavior Under Risk," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 90(2), pages 243-261, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:socsci:v:90:y:2009:i:2:p:243-261
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6237.2009.00615.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Charles Reback & Kristin Stowe, 2011. "Unnatural experiments: the case of television game shows," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(10), pages 919-923.
    2. Hogarth, Robin M. & Karelaia, Natalia & Trujillo, Carlos Andrés, 2012. "When should I quit? Gender differences in exiting competitions," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 136-150.
    3. Haeussler, Carolin & Vieth, Sabrina, 2022. "A question worth a million: The expert, the crowd, or myself? An investigation of problem solving," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(3).
    4. Klemens Keldenich & Marcus Klemm, 2014. "Double or nothing?! Small groups making decisions under risk in “Quiz Taxi”," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 77(2), pages 243-274, August.
    5. Ramirez, Patrick A. & Levine, Daniel S., 2013. "A review of the certainty effect and influence of information processing," Economics Discussion Papers 2013-47, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).

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