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Whether it is a married couple choosing a new car, two friends buying a holiday or business colleagues investing in stocks and shares, if one of the two is a woman then the pair will take fewer risks.
This means if you want a good deal, you should make sure there's a woman in the negotiations.
A compromise is more likely when a woman is involved in the decision making, according to new research.
Men making decisions together are dismissive of compromise and more likely to 'assert their masculinity' by going for an extreme deal, says a study in the Journal of Consumer Research.
Researchers from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College tested a range of buying and selling goods with a different range of prizes, on 900 pairs of volunteers.
'When men are in the presence of other men, they feel the need to prove their masculinity', Professor Hristina Nikolova, lead author of the study said.
'Both tend to push away from the compromise option because the compromise option is consistent with feminine norms.
'On the other hand, extremism is a more masculine trait so that's why both male partners tend to prefer an extreme option when making decisions together.'
When a woman made a decision on buying with another man or woman, the outcome was more likely to involve a compromise. But two men together would end up at one extreme or the other.
 For instance, two men going to buy a car together would choose one which is the fastest, the most fuel efficient or the safest.
But if a woman is involved in the deal either as a buyer or seller then the car chosen is more likely to be a compromise. She will not pick the safest, fastest or most fuel efficient but one that combines all factors.
Women are more likely to go for the 'Goldilocks effect', the study reported - the name given to an aversion to extremes.
The experiments involved 1,200 students conducting deals as pairs or individuals plus another 673 doing deals online.
The deals ranged from discussing which printer to buy to paying different amounts for a lottery ticket but where the potential prizes ranged from high to low.
'No matter what the product is, we see the same effects,' Professor Nikolova added.
'The compromise effect basically emerges in any pair when there is a woman.
'However, surprisingly, when you have men choosing together, they actually tend to push away from the compromise option and select one of the extreme options.'
'Individuals and mixed-gender and female-female pairs will likely go for the middle option since it seems reasonable and is easily justified.'
'In contrast to men,' said Professor Nikolova, 'women act the same together as they would alone because they don't need to prove anything in front of other women.
'Womanhood is not precarious and does not need the same level of public defense as manhood. That's why we observe the compromise effect in the joint decisions of two female partners.' |
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