Jodi L. Schober

Psych 417

Winter 1999

Research Paper

ABSTRACT

This study looked at gender differences in jaywalking as a form of risk-taking, and whether adverse weather conditions would alter the frequencies of jaywalking. The predictions for these hypotheses were that males would jaywalk more than females, and all subjects would jaywalk more frequently in adverse weather. Data was collected using scan sampling and one-zero time sampling. The data showed that males do jaywalk, or take risks, significantly more than females (p < .01). This is consistent with existing literature regarding gender differences in risk-taking behavior (Kohler, 1996, West, Moskal, Dziuban, & Rumbough, 1996, and Martinez, 1995). The data showed no significant difference in jaywalking frequencies between the weather conditions (p > .01). In evaluation, the data showed that women more than men were significantly more likely to engage in the highest risk level of jaywalking after seeing another do it first (p < .01). This finding is at odds with existing literature on gender differences in conformity tendencies that have shown females conforming more frequently than males (Eagly, Wood, & Fishbaugh, 1981, Dannick, 1973, Eagly, 1978). However, in the recent study when the highest risk level was compared to all other risk levels combined, it was shown that males engage in the highest level of risk significantly more than females (p < .01).

INTRODUCTION

People engage in numerous risky situations every day. The type and degree of risk one is willing to take can differ greatly from one person to the next and is likely to be a function of age and gender, among other variables (Horvath & Zuckerman, 1993; Bouter, Knipschild, Feij & Volovics, 1988; Knox, Zusman & Nieves, 1998; Powell & Ansic, 1997; Kerr & Vlaminkx, 1997). For example, individuals that seek intense emotional sensations are more willing to engage in physical, legal, financial and personal risk than are those who are low sensation seekers (Horvath & Zuckerman, 1993). Further, Horvath and Zuckerman found that high sensation seekers are also more inclined to underestimate the level of risk. Differences in risk perception could then influence the degree of risk an individual is willing to undertake.

There are many ordinary daily behaviors that involve a certain amount of risk. A very common risk-taking behavior is the participation in sports. Injuries often happen in every type of sport, yet they are a very popular pastime. In the case of downhill skiers, it has been shown that those skiers who were more inclined to take risks were actually injured less often (Bouter, Knipschild, Feij & Volovics, 1988). The authors proposed several explanations for this outcome, one of which was that those skiers with higher risk-taking inclinations were more skilled at handling that risk and were thus injured less frequently. Of course, more research would need to be done in order to see if this finding can be replicated.

Another common experience that involves risk-taking is that of love. Engaging in sexual acts without the use of protection is often practiced when the partners believe that they are in love (Knox, Zusman & Nieves, 1998). This is a potentially life-threatening behavior, and it is curious that the perception of risk decreases when one falls in love. Knox, Zusman and Nieves also found that subjects engaged in riskier driving to be with the one that they love, including driving while intoxicated, driving long distances, and driving in adverse weather conditions. This could imply that the perception of risk for a situation can be changed according to circumstances, or that the reward can outweigh the potential consequences.

Stereotypical gender differences are often cited when management of money is discussed. Many people believe that men are more confident in making decisions about money and are more successful as a result. In fact, there are no significant differences in the ability to manage money between the sexes, although women are more likely to attribute their financial success to luck instead of skill (Powell & Ansic, 1997). Powell and Ansic also found that the strategies used by women differed from those used by men. In a study testing risk assessment differences between genders, it was found that young women are inclined to experience higher levels of stress prior to performing a novel risk activity (Kerr & Vlaminkx, 1997). This could be why women tend to avoid novel, risky situations.

Jaywalking is also a behavior that involves a degree of risk. Gender differences may be evident in the frequency with which this behavior is performed, and at what risk levels. One factor that may affect this behavior would be physical differences between genders in their respective capabilities to perceive depth. However, studies have shown that there are no significant gender differences for depth perception (Hell & Freeman, 1977). Another factor that might impact jaywalking is whether the perception of a given risk (crossing a busy street against the light) decreases as the reward (arriving at a destination) increases as a result of bad weather.

Therefore, to pursue the question of gender differences in jaywalking as a function of risk and weather, the present study tested four hypotheses: (1) men jaywalk in all conditions more frequently than women, (2) jaywalking frequencies will increase in adverse weather conditions, (3) men are more likely to engage in the highest level of risk than women, and (4) women are more likely to perform the highest risk level of jaywalking after seeing someone else do it first.

METHODS

Subjects were comprised of the population of adults crossing 15^th Avenue NE at the corner of 40^th Avenue NE in Seattle, WA during the observation periods. Subjects’ ages ranged from approximately 18 to 50 years, and the majority of them were students, faculty, and staff of the University of Washington.

All observations were done at the corner of 15^th Ave. NE and 40^th Ave. NE (Seattle, WA). This intersection is adjacent to the University of Washington, and was chosen due to the large volume of pedestrians coming to or from campus.

Observations were conducted on weekdays, with times ranging from late morning to late afternoon. Subjects were placed into a Rain or No Rain condition, depending on the weather at the time of the observation. Scan sampling was used and data recorded using one-zero time sampling (Martin & Bateson, 1993). The entire population of pedestrians was recorded per light cycle, and the type of jaywalking, gender, and weather condition were noted for each subject. A light cycle was determined by the light signal for 15^th Avenue NE, and lasted for the time span between red lights.

The subjects were only those pedestrians that crossed 15^th Avenue NE. The observation location alternated between the sides of 40^th Avenue NE. Please see Figure 1, a line drawing of crosswalk direction. The observations were alternated in order to enhance accuracy in recording the number, gender and type of jaywalking when pedestrian traffic was heavy. Please see Table 1 for the observation schedule.

Each subject was placed into one of two conditions: (1)Rain or (2) No Rain. Within these conditions, the subjects were placed according to the type of jaywalking they committed. See Table 2 for a description of jaywalking types and the corresponding risk levels. The subjects were then separated by gender. Several comparisons were evaluated on true frequency data: (1) male jaywalkers vs. female jaywalkers; (2) Rain vs. No Rain; (3) gender differences in the highest risk level collapsed over all other risk levels; (4) gender differences in the tendency to follow another subject committing the riskiest level of jaywalking. The significance of these comparisons was tested using Chi-Square analyses.

RESULTS

The relationship between gender and jaywalking was significant (c 2=61.93, df=1, p < .01), Figure 2. Males jaywalked significantly more than females. Significant gender differences were also found in the levels of risk in which subjects engaged. When the highest risk level was compared to all other risk levels, it was found that males were significantly more willing to take larger risks than females (c 2=9.86, df=1, p < .01), Figure 3. It was also found that females are significantly more likely to engage in the highest risk level after seeing someone else do it first, rather than engage in the riskiest behavior without this stimulus (c 2=19.62, df=1, p < .01), figure 4. The gender of the leader was also tested to find a possible relationship between that and the tendency to follow, but this was found to be not significant (c 2=2.93, df=1, p>.01). Also, the relationship between jaywalking and adverse weather was not significant (c 2=. 062, df=1, p > .01), Figure 5.

DISCUSSION

The finding that males take more risks in general, and engage in greater risks more frequently, than females is not surprising. It is consistent with several other studies which show that men are more adventuresome (Kohler, 1996), and take greater risks (West, Moskal, Dziuban, & Rumbough, 1996, Martinez, 1995). It has also been shown that men prefer high-risk to low-risk situations, and women prefer low-risk to high-risk situations (Sorrentino, Hewitt, & Raso-Knott, 1992). Adverse weather was found to not have a significant effect on jaywalking, or risk-taking, behavior. This lack of significance may be due to the fact that there were only two levels of weather, rain and no rain. Adverse weather conditions also consist of wind speed and temperature differences and these were not taken into account. Subjects were placed into the Rain condition when there was any precipitation at all, regardless of the temperature, wind speed, or other weather variations. Conversely, subjects were placed into the No Rain condition in the absence of any precipitation. Therefore, the weather could be very adverse with high winds and low temperatures, but not discriminated in this study.

Thus, further research needs to be done taking a variety of weather conditions into effect. Feelings of aggression have found to increase with discomfort due to temperature, and anxiety increases with precipitation (Howarth & Hoffman, 1984). Changing weather patterns may also affect behavior. Since the ratio of small air ions changes when a weather front moves in due to the friction between air layers, Charry and Hawkinshire, (1981) decided to test this effect on mood and physiological activities. Their data showed that positive air ions have a detrimental effect on the mood of males more so than females. It therefore seems reasonable to hypothesize that weather may have an effect on risk perception and behavior as well.

The other interesting finding was that females are more inclined to engage in the highest risk level after watching someone else. This is intriguing because men show almost the opposite tendency. In fact, it has been shown that males will conform significantly less to group pressure when they are being evaluated by a peer group than females, whether or not the females were also aware of a peer evaluation (Eagly, Wood, & Fishbaugh, 1981). These data were confirmed in the present study, since males were more likely to jaywalk, thereby exhibiting nonconformist behavior in a group setting. Females followed someone else who participated in the highest risk level more frequently than they initiated the riskiest behavior. Males, on the other hand, initiated the riskiest behavior more frequently than they followed someone who had done it first. Dannick (1973), also documented this tendency by finding that females responded more than males to a male confederate that initiated jaywalking. Even though the sex of the initiator was not significant in the present study but was in the expected direction, more research needs to be conducted on this possible bias.

Finally, the present study seems to show that men are either more willing to engage in high-risk behavior or perceive the risk as lower than females. Females, on the other hand, are either less inclined to engage in high-risk behavior or perceive the risk as greater. Eagly (1978) hypothesized that in a natural setting, such as a busy street, social constraints and the obligation to maintain sex roles may influence a female’s decision to behave in a particular manner. This might take the form of females acting aggressively and taking risks by jaywalking, behavior that is generally considered masculine by western society. More cross-cultural research is needed to find if these societal pressures for subjects to behave in a gender-typical manner are indicative of other cultures as well.

REFERENCES

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Charry, J.M., and Hawkinshire, B.W., 1981, Effects of atmospheric electricity on some substrates of disordered behavior, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41(1): 185-197.

Dannick, L.I., 1973, Influence of an anonymous stranger on a routine decision to act or not to act: An experiment in conformity, The Sociological Quarterly, 14(Winter): 127-134.

Eagly, A.H., 1978, Sex differences in influenceability, Psychological Bulletin, 85(1): 86-116.

Eagly, A.H., Wood, W., and Fishbaugh, L., 1981, Sex differences in conformity: Surveillance by the group as a determinant of male nonconformity, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40(2): 384-394.

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526-530.

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Kerr, J.H., and Vlaminkx, J., 1997, Gender differences in the experience of risk, Journal of Personality and Individual Differences, 22(2): 293-295.

Knox, D., Zusman, M., and Nieves W., 1998, What I did for love: Risky behavior of college students in love, College Student Journal, 32(2): 203-205.

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Martin, P., and Bateson, P., 1993, Recording methods, in: Measuring behavior: an introductory guide, New York, Cambridge University Press, pp. 84-100.

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Powell, M., and Ansic, D., 1997, Gender differences in risk behaviour in financial decision-making: An experimental analysis, Journal of Economic Psychology, 18: 605-628.

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Table 1

Observation Schedule

Table 2

Description of jaywalking types and the corresponding level of risk, in descending risk order.