The gender reference point gap: Evidence from a representative sample

While women generally take fewer financial risks than men, the reasons remain unclear. Inspired by the efficient coding literature, we hypothesize that women’s lower financial risk tolerance is due to lower reference points. We measured financial reference points in a representative US sample of 579 adults using a range of unincentivized and incentivized methods. In line with our predictions, we found that women have lower reference points, regardless of how they are measured, and that this translates to lower financial risk tolerance. Our results suggest that, rather than being endowed with different risk attitudes, men and women may have different reference points. We discuss possible reasons for this and its implications for policy.