When Men Become “Big Spenders”

From exclusive dinners to diamond rings – when it comes to impressing the ladies, men are willing to spend the big bucks. Especially when women are scarce, a new study of the University of Minnesota suggests. The motivation behind the big spending? Scientist say that, like animals, males become more competitive when potential mates are short in supply: they compete more for access to mates. While money is a prominent marker for competitive fitness, the researchers expected that sex ratio also influences financial decisions.

To test their theory, men were asked to read news articles that described their local population as having more men or more women. They were then asked to estimate how much they would spend over the course of a month. Men who were led to believe there was a shortage of women indicated that they would save 42% less than other men. They were also 84% more willing to borrow money. In another study, the scientist showed men photos of mixed groups, some with more men, more women, or with an equal sex ratio. After looking at the photos, the men were asked: ”Would you rather receive some money tomorrow, or a larger amount in a month?” When women were scarce in the photo, men were more tended to opt for instant gratification, choosing an immediate $20 over waiting a month for $10 more. Overall conclusion of the researchers: men save less, borrow more and make more impulsive purchases when women are scarce.

And what about women? It seems that their spending behavior was not affected in the same way, although they did expect men to spend more money on them when the number of other women was low.

Source: Scientific American, Live Science

Griskevicius, V., Tybur, J., Ackerman, J., Delton, A., Robertson, T., & White, A. (2012). The financial consequences of too many men: Sex ratio effects on saving, borrowing, and spending. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102 (1), 69-80 DOI: 10.1037/a0024761

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