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Sex-influenced Traits: The Example of Risk-taking
Risk-taking may be an example of a sex-influenced trait. To find out:
- If you were to select the trait, “risk-taking” to study, and
- If you were to find a quantifiable variable that would provide evidence about risk-taking as a sex-influenced trait, such as, say, “number of race car drivers,” and collect the data,
- Then the theory would predict you would likely find a difference in the number of race car drivers by sex, namely, significantly more males than females; and
- The theory would also predict that, because of the sex-specific, genetic basis for risk-taking behaviour, you would find the same pattern when measuring “number of race car drivers,” everywhere in the world, regardless of country or culture. In other words, evidence that males have evolved brain circuitry that inclines them towards risk-taking behaviour.
The theory would predict similar findings on measures of any of the above-listed sex-based traits (and many more). For example, to measure the trait, “aggression,” by sex, you could compare proportions of male and female prisoners incarcerated for violent crimes. If the theory has predictive value, you would find a much higher proportion of males doing prison time for violent crime (and, as it turns out, males in their late teens and twenties), again, regardless of nation or culture. (Interestingly, once pair-bonded, male criminal activity drops sharply.)