Wondering why your guy came home from his buddy's Vegas bachelor party out 500 bucks, when he's usually the one busting your chops for buying name-brand toothpaste? It's not just about the free drinks served on the casino floor — it's also about the cocktail waitresses, evolution, and the sense of need for both money and women.
A recent Stanford study showed that when heterosexual men were shown erotic images they were much more likely to take financial risks, because the emotional impact of arousal feeds into those money decisions. The study's outcome was the result of neuroeconomics used to figure out why some men make the financial decisions they do. The findings highlight the ever-existing link between sex and greed, which stems from men's traditional role as provider to attract women.
One psychologist involved with the study said that the same could hold true for women, but didn't test it because it's "more difficult to find an erotic image that would appeal to many different heterosexual women compared to heterosexual men." It seems like we're doing just fine without our own study, thank you very much, since we're getting props for investing like girls.