What do you do when someone predicts your future? Research shows that men tend to take more financial risks after a positive future prediction. Among women, this effect is much weaker.
Researchers wanted to know how superstition can influence people's behaviour, and they decided to investigate the effect of a future prediction on subjects' behaviour. They began with two online surveys, in which 693 participants received a positive, negative or neutral future prediction, either about their lives in general or about their financial success.
Men take more risk
Participants then had to fill in a questionnaire, indicating how inclined they were to take financial risks. Male participants with a positive outlook on the future in particular were more likely to report that they were willing to take those risks.
Interestingly, most participants reported not believing in a higher power, but thus appeared superstitious. This is consistent with previous research, which showed that even people who did not call themselves superstitious were in fact superstitious in practice.
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The total article can be found on the website of the Nederlands Dagblad.
