Because of a lack of empirical evidence on this, Ginsburg and Miller (1982) set out to find out if young boys or girls are more willing to take risks. They chose the naturalistic observation method because they wanted to study this behavior in the real world rather than the laboratory.
The setting they chose was the San Antonio Zoo. They operationally defined risk-taking and measured it in four ways:
- riding an elephant
- petting a burro
- feeding animals
- climbing a steep wooden bridge.
The investigators recorded the number of boys and girls engaging in these "risky" behaviors. They found that boys engaged in risk-taking behaviors more frequently than girls.
see related image
Sex differences in children's risk-taking behavior. Ginsburg, H. J., & Miller, S. M. (1982). Child Development, 53, 426-428.
